The No. 5 Stanford women’s soccer team plays host to Boston University and No. 23 Georgetown at the 18th annual Stanford Nike Invitational, which takes place Friday and Sunday.

STANFORD NIKE INVITATIONAL
The following is the complete tournament schedule:
Friday
4:30 p.m.: Santa Clara (2-2-1) vs. No. 23 Georgetown (6-0), at Stanford
7 p.m.: Boston University (3-2-1) at No. 5 Stanford (2-1-1)

The Last Meeting Stanford 2 Boston University 1 August 22, 2010 Boston, Mass. Early Goals Lift No. 2 Stanford First-half goals by freshman Sydney Payne and senior Christian Press stood up for No. 2 Stanford in its 2-1 victory over host Boston University in the rain on Sunday. Recap | Box Score

The Last Meeting Stanford 4 Georgetown 1 August 29, 2011 Washington, D.C. Taylor, Payne Lead Stanford Past Hoyas Lindsay Taylor and Sydney Payne each scored twice to push No. 2 Stanford to a 4-1 victory over No. 20 Georgetown on Monday in Washington, D.C. Recap | Box Score

Sunday
Noon: Georgetown at Stanford
1 p.m.: Boston University at Santa Clara

Tournament format: The winner will be determined by the best overall tournament record, with three points for a victory and one for a draw. Should teams finish with identical overall records, ties will be broken by the following criteria:

1) Head-to-head record
2) Goal differential
3) Goals scored
4) Co-champions

Tournament history: Stanford is 23-9-2 in the 17 years of the Stanford Nike Invitational. Since 2000, the Cardinal has gone 20-3-1. Last year, Stanford beat Notre Dame in overtime, 2-1, in a dramatic lightning-interrupted comeback victory, and beat UC Irvine, 2-0.

STANFORD’S WEEKEND
The following is a closer look at Stanford’s matches this weekend:

Who: Boston University (3-2-1) at No. 4 Stanford (2-1-1)
When: Friday, 7 p.m. PT
Where: Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, Stanford, Calif.
What: A matchup of 2011 NCAA tournament teams
Watch: Pac-12 Networks (JB Long and Krista Blunk on the call)
Listen: KZSU-2 online
Follow: Gametracker live stats (gostanford.com)
Tickets: 1-800-STANFORD; gostanford.com; Stanford Stadium ticket office (Gate 2)

Who: No. 23 Georgetown (6-0) at No. 5 Stanford
When: Sunday, noon PT
Where: Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, Stanford, Calif.
What: A matchup of ranked teams
Watch: Pac-12 Networks (JB Long and Krista Blunk on the call)
Listen: KZSU-2 online
Follow: Gametracker live stats (gostanford.com)
Tickets: 1-800-STANFORD; gostanford.com; Stanford Stadium ticket office (Gate 2)

CURRENT STANFORD STREAKS
• Four consecutive College Cup appearances
• Three consecutive College Cup finals appearances
• Three consecutive Pac-12 conference titles
• 132-match unbeaten streak when scoring a goal
(the last time Stanford scored and lost was Aug. 27, 2006; 2-1 to Wake Forest)
• 89-match home unbeaten streak (85-0-4) when scoring a goal
(Stanford hasn’t scored at home and lost since Oct. 5, 2003; 2-1 to Loyola Marymount)
• 56-match home unbeaten streak (54-0-2)
(last loss, Nov. 23, 2007; 2-0 to Connecticut in an NCAA third-round match)

LAST WEEK: Stanford drew 1-1 with No. 7 Boston College at Cagan Stadium on Friday in a match televised by the Pac-12 Networks. Natalie Griffen scored her team-leading third goal of the season when she met a high chip into the box by Alex Doll with a leaping volley over the B.C. goalkeeper in the 11th minute. Boston College tied the score in the 57th minute on a nine-yard shot by Stephanie McCaffrey. The teams played 110 minutes in all, after two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods.

The result was significant for Stanford because:
1) It ended the Cardinal’s 51-match home winning streak. Stanford’s last home non-victory was Sept. 12, 2008, with a 1-1 draw against North Carolina.

2) It ended Stanford’s stretch of 106 consecutive matches without back-to-back non-victories. The B.C. draw had followed a 1-0 loss to West Virginia, marking the first time Stanford had failed to win either end of back-to-back matches since it tied Cal, 1-1 (but won on penalty kicks) and lost to Connecticut, 2-0, in the second and third rounds of the 2007 NCAA tournament. Matches decided by penalty kicks are technically draws.

U-20 UPDATE: Stanford sophomore forward Chioma Ubogagu will be playing for the United States in the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup final against Germany in Tokyo on Saturday. The match begins Saturday at 3:20 a.m. PT (ESPNU, ESPN3, @ussoccer_ynt). Ubogagu scored the winning goal in overtime to beat North Korea in the quarterfinals and played in the second half of the 2-0 semifinal victory over Nigeria. The U.S. is seeking its third championship in the biennial tournament that began in 2002.

Ubogagu, the 2011 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, is Stanford’s leading returning scorer, with 10 goals. She will miss Stanford’s first six matches and is expected to be available on Friday, Sept. 14, against San Diego State at the Santa Clara Classic.

LEADING SCORER: Natalie Griffen, a Bay Area product from Pleasanton, is leading the Cardinal in scoring with three goals. Griffen is a junior and in her first year in the starting lineup. She already has eclipsed her two-year total two goals in her first two seasons.

RANKINGS: Stanford dropped from No. 4 to No. 5 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Coaches’ Poll after its’ draw against Boston College on Friday. In other rankings, Stanford is No. 5 by Soccer America, No. 3 by Top Drawer Soccer, No. 4 by Soccer Times, and No. 5 by Our Game.

FRIDAY’S OPPONENT, BOSTON UNIVERSITY: The Terriers are five-time defending champions of the America East Conference. BU boasts seven Californians, the most representation of any state on the roster. The Terriers went 19-3-1 in a season that ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 2-0 loss to eventual College Cup qualifier Wake Forest. Nancy Feldman is in her 18th season as coach and junior midfielder Kylie Strom was a 2011 all-conference first-team selection. The Terriers enter the match having won only one of their past four contests.

THE STANFORD-BOSTON UNIVERSITY SERIES: Stanford leads the all-time series 3-0. Sydney Payne and Christen Press scored to give Stanford a 2-1 victory in Boston on Aug. 22, 2010, in their most recent meeting. It was Payne’s first collegiate goal. Stanford’s previous victories were 3-0 at Stanford in 2006 and 2-0 in a season-opener at Boston’s Nickerson Field in 2007. Boston University’s home of Nickerson Field is the former Braves Field that was used by Major League Baseball’s Boston Braves from 1915-52, and was the home of the Boston (now New England) Patriots football team from 1960-62. B.U. is 2-1 there this season.

SUNDAY’S OPPONENT, GEORGETOWN: The Hoyas (6-0) have outscored their opponents 16-2 and are allowing only 0.33 goals per match. Kaitlin Brenn leads the team in scoring with five goals, and Daphne Corboz has four. Georgetown narrowly missed the NCAA tournament last season despite a 15-6 record. Corboz scored 10 goals in 2011 and made the All-Big East Conference Rookie team.

THE STANFORD-GEORGETOWN SERIES: Stanford leads the all-time series 2-0 after playing in each of the past two years. This will be their first meeting at Stanford. Last year, Stanford earned a 4-1 victory in Washington, D.C., in an Aug. 29th match that was delayed a day by Hurricane Irene. Lindsay Taylor and Sydney Payne each scored twice. It was the first multi-goal performance in Payne’s collegiate career. Their first meeting was Sept. 19, 2010, with a 2-0 Stanford victory at the Santa Clara Classic.

TOUGH SCHEDULE: The Boston University match marks the last of Stanford’s five-match season-opening stretch against 2011 NCAA tournament teams. In order, Santa Clara reached the first round of last year’s tournament, Penn State the third round, West Virginia the first round, Boston College the third round, and Boston University the second round. In all, Stanford plays nine teams that reached the postseason last year.

CLUTCH PLAYER: Mariah Nogueira has made a habit of scoring clutch goals for Stanford. She scored the late winner against Penn State and the second-half tying goal in the season-opener against Santa Clara. Last year, she headed in the 88th minute winner to beat Notre Dame.

Of Nogueira’s team-high 16 career goals, 12 have tied the score or put Stanford ahead. She also has nine game-winning goals. And, technically, she’s not an offensive player, but rather a holding midfielder. Most of her goals are headers off corner kicks, which was the case both times this season.

SCORING BY COMMITTEE: Through graduation or injury, Stanford has had to make do without its top six scorers from last year. The Cardinal is averaging 2.37 goals per match. Stanford has gotten goals from six different scorers, including a team-high three from Natalie Griffen.

FROM BEHIND: Stanford has trailed in three of its first four matches, equaling last year’s total for the entire season. Stanford rallied to win all three in 2011 and two of the three this year. Also, Stanford’s five goals allowed is more than half of last season’s total of nine allowed.

RETURNING PLAYERS: Stanford returns seven starters and 21 letterwinners from last year’s NCAA championship team. Among those are six all-conference players and three NSCAA All-Americans – goalkeeper Emily Oliver (2011 third team), midfielder Mariah Nogueira (2009 third team), and forward Courtney Verloo (2010 third team as a defender). Stanford returns 34 of last year’s 73 goals (47 percent), its lowest percentage since 2004, with Chioma Ubogagu the team’s top returning scorer (10 goals, 10 assists, 30 points).

FRESHMAN IMPACT: Of the five freshmen in this year’s class, two have started each of the first four matches. Kate Bettinger has started as an attacking midfielder and Laura Liedle at left outside back. Liedle has supplied two assists. Central defender Maya Theuer and midfielder Katie Donahue made their collegiate debuts in the season opener off the bench. Sarah Cox is a backup goalkeeper.

SENIOR CLASS: Stanford has three players – tri-captains central defender Alina Garciamendez, outside right back Rachel Quon, and holding midfielder Mariah Nogueira – who are four-year starters, with College Cup finals appearances in each of their previous three seasons. Stanford has 10 members of the class of 2013, including three who will still have eligibility after this year. Five members of the class started the opener: Garciamendez, Quon, Nogueira, goalkeeper Lindsay Dickerson, and forward Courtney Verloo.

HISTORIC PACE: Junior goalkeeper Emily Oliver, who did not play in the first four matches because of injury, has a career goals-against average of 0.27. She has allowed only 11 goals in 44 career matches. Her GAA, if maintained, would rank No. 1 in Stanford career history. U.S. national teamer Nicole Barnhart has the Stanford record of 0.45.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Paul Ratcliffe, in his 10th season at Stanford, is the reigning NSCAA National Coach of the Year, an honor he has received three times in four years. He also has been named Pac-12 Coach of the Year the past four seasons. Ratcliffe’s Stanford record is 160-36-20. Over his career, now in his 14th year as a Division I head coach, Ratcliffe is 215-70-27.

HERMANN TROPHY WINNERS: Before last year, no other school has had three different players win the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy in three successive years. Stanford became the first in the 24 years of collegiate soccer’s most prestigious honor when Kelley O’Hara (2009), Christen Press (2010) and Teresa Noyola captured the honor. In addition, Lindsay Taylor, the runner-up to Noyola, was named Soccer America’s National Player of the Year. This year, goalkeeper Emily Oliver has been named to the Hermann Trophy watch list.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: Central defender Alina Garciamendez and goalkeeper Emily Oliver were named to Soccer America’s Preseason All-America team.

POSSIBLE LINEUP
Goalkeeper: Aly Gleason
Defenders: Laura Liedle, Alina Garciamendez, Kendall Romine, Rachel Quon.
Midfielders: Mariah Nogueira, Kate Bettinger, Alex Doll.
Forwards: Sydney Payne, Courtney Verloo, Natalie Griffen.