Game notes

Nov. 20, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford and UCLA, annual rivals for the Pac-12 title, meet again, but with higher stakes. With a berth in the NCAA College Cup riding on the outcome, No. 1-ranked Stanford plays host to the No. 6-ranked Bruins on Friday at 7 p.m. in a quarterfinal match at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Besides combining for 18 of 19 possible conference championships, the two are frequent NCAA tournament rivals. This will be their third tournament meeting in four years.

TICKETS: Tickets are available online at gostanford.com, by phone at 1-800-STANFORD. The Cagan Stadium ticket office opens at 5:30 on Friday.

PARKING: The Varsity and El Camino lots are the closest to Cagan Stadium. Both are free. Both lots can be accessed from Nelson Road (between Campus Drive and El Camino Real), after turning from Galvez Road.

The following is a closer look at the match:

Who: UCLA (18-2-2) at Stanford (20-1-1)
What: NCAA Quarterfinal
When: Friday, 7 p.m. PT
Where: Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
Storyline: Conference rivals battle for College Cup berth.
Follow: Gametracker live stats (gostanford.com)
Watch: Links to live free streaming video can be found at gostanford.com.
Listen: The match is on live online radio on KZSU-2, with links at gostanford.com.

NCAA SUCCESS: This match marks Stanford's fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA quarterfinals -- all taking place at Cagan Stadium. Stanford is 4-0 in those matches and has advanced to three consecutive NCAA College Cup finals. This is the seventh time Stanford has reached the quarterfinals and is 5-0-1 in previous matches.

THE STANFORD-UCLA SERIES: Stanford leads the series 11-9-3 and has won their past six meetings since 2009, outscoring the Bruins by a combined 15-3 in that span. Stanford rallied past host UCLA on Oct. 28, 2-1, when Chioma Ubogagu and Rachel Quon scored within 72 seconds of each other in the 77th and 79th minutes to clinch Stanford's fourth consecutive Pac-12 title. This will be their third NCAA tournament meeting in four years after Stanford stunned the Bruins, 2-1, on a golden goal by Christen Press in the 2009 College Cup semifinals in College Station, Texas, and after a 3-0 victory in the rain at Cagan Stadium in the 2010 third round. In their most recent meeting at Cagan Stadium, Stanford won 4-1 on Oct. 9, 2011, with all the goals coming in the first half. Chioma Ubogagu scored twice in the first 18 minutes to spark the victory.

FRIDAY'S OPPONENT, UCLA:
• The Bruins (18-2-2) advanced by beating Wisconsin (1-0), Kentucky (5-0), and San Diego State (3-0) in the first three rounds, by a combined 9-0.
• The Bruins finished second to Stanford in the Pac-12, with an 8-2-1 record.
• UCLA boasts the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Zakiya Bywaters, a senior MF/F who led the conference with 15 goals. She scored the first two goals against San Diego State in the Bruins's third-round victory and has 14 game-winning goals this year.
• Local product Abby Dahlkemper, a sophomore defender, and sophomore midfielder Sarah Killion also were named to the All-Pac-12 first team.

CURRENT STANFORD STREAKS:
• Four consecutive College Cup appearances
• Four consecutive Pac-10/12 Conference titles
• Three consecutive College Cup finals appearances
• 150-match unbeaten streak (144-0-6) when scoring a goal
(the last time Stanford scored and lost was Aug. 27, 2006; 2-1 to Wake Forest)
• 100-match home unbeaten streak (96-0-4) when scoring a goal
(Stanford hasn't scored at home and lost since Oct. 5, 2003; 2-1 to LMU)
• 65-match home unbeaten streak (63-0-2), second-longest in NCAA history
(last loss, Nov. 23, 2007; 2-0 to Connecticut in an NCAA third-round match)
• 42-match Pac-10/12 winning streak, No. 3 conference win streak in NCAA history
(last loss, Oct. 31, 2008; 1-0 at UCLA)
• 35-match unbeaten streak (32-0-3) on opponents' home fields
(last loss, Oct. 31, 2008; 1-0 at UCLA)
• 28-match Pac-10/12 home winning streak
(last loss, Oct. 19, 2007; 2-0 vs. UCLA)
• 18-match NCAA Tournament home winning streak
(last loss, Nov. 23, 2007; 2-0 to Connecticut in an NCAA third-round match)
• 17-match winning streak
(last non-victory, Aug. 31, 2012; 1-1 vs. Boston College)
• 8-match NCAA Tournament winning streak
(last loss, Dec. 5, 2010; 1-0 vs. Notre Dame in NCAA final)

MILESTONE: Stanford senior central defender Alina Garciamendez achieved a milestone for starts, with her 100th on Sunday, on ongoing Stanford record. She broke the mark held by forward Lindsay Taylor (2008-11) on Friday. Garciamendez has started every match at Stanford career and is one of three four-year starters, along with Rachel Quon and Mariah Nogueira.

THIRD ROUND: Goals by Alex Doll, Nina Watkins, and Chioma Ubogagu enabled Stanford to beat Denver, 3-0, in a third round match at Cagan Stadium. Doll opened the scoring in the ninth minute on a first-time shot from 12 yards to give the Cardinal all it needed to extend its home unbeaten streak to 66 and its home NCAA tournament winning streak to 19.

SECOND ROUND: Stanford beat rival Santa Clara, 2-1, on Friday at home with two goals by Courtney Verloo. Verloo scored in the 51st and 60th minutes, first after Chioma Ubogagu cut the ball back from the end line into Verloo's path. Verloo's shot in traffic went through the legs of a defender and was similar in creation to her winner at California in the regular-season finale. Verloo's next goal came on a solo run and a blast off the bottom of the crossbar. Santa Clara cut the deficit in the 77th minute, but the Cardinal hung on and earned its ninth consecutive victory over the Broncos.

FIRST ROUND: Stanford scored three first-half goals on the way to a 3-0 NCAA first-round victory over visiting Idaho State, the Big Sky Conference tournament champion and regular-season co-champ. Alex Doll scored in the seventh minute on a point-blank shot after Nina Watkins chested the ball into her path. Courtney Verloo scored from 12 yards in the 21st minute and Sydney Payne scored on a spectacular volley in the 41st minute into the upper corner. The Cardinal outshot Idaho State, 31-7, and earned its fourth consecutive first-round victory over a Big Sky team.

SENIOR SUCCESS:
Some numbers on the success of Stanford's 10-player senior class (Annie Case, Lindsay Dickerson, Alina Garciamendez, Aly Gleason, Marjani Hing-Glover, Mariah Nogueira, Rachel Quon, Madeleine Thompson, Courtney Verloo, and Nina Watkins):
• Stanford is 93-3-4 over the past four years.
• Stanford is 51-0-1 at home
• Stanford went 40-0-0 in Pac-12 play.

PAC-12 CHAMPS: Stanford clinched its fourth consecutive outright Pac-12 championship when it beat second-place UCLA on Oct. 28 in a matchup between teams ranked Nos. 1 (Stanford) and No. 2 (UCLA). Stanford rallied for two late goals to win, 2-1, before a record crowd of more than 4,000 at Drake Stadium. Stanford's goals were scored by Chioma Ubogagu and Rahel Quon within 72 seconds of each other -- the latter in the 79th minute to help complete a ninth conference title. The others were in 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2009, 2010, and 2011.

PAC-12 HONOR FOR RATCLIFFE: For the fifth consecutive season, Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors. Ratcliffe was selected after a vote of conference coaches. Stanford has never failed to make the NCAA tournament under Ratcliffe's direction and is 27-7-2 in NCAA play under him.

ALL-CONFERENCE CARDINAL: Five Stanford players were named to the All-Pac-12 first team, and two others received all-conference honors. In addition, two Cardinal were named to the All-Freshman team. Stanford's first-team selections were: senior central defender Alina Garciamendez, senior midfielder Mariah Nogueira, junior goalkeeper Emily Oliver, senior outside back Rachel Quon, and sophomore forward Chioma Ubogagu. The five first-team selections match the most by Stanford, along with teams of 2009 and 2011.

FOUR-YEAR STARTERS: 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 each year.

CLUTCH VICTORIES: Stanford is 11-1 in one-goal games this season and has won its share in the late going. Of those 11 victories, Stanford broke ties to score the winners in the second half of seven of them -- five in Pac-12 play. Of the seven second-half winners, Alina Garciamendez scored three of those, Mariah Nogueira two, and Alex Doll and Rachel Quon one apiece. Five of those matches were decided in the final 12 minutes and three in the final four minutes: 3-2 over Penn State (Nogueira, 87th minute), 1-0 over Boston University (Garciamendez, 89th), and 1-0 over USC (Garciamendez, 103rd).

FROM BEHIND: Stanford has trailed in five matches this season, rallying for victories in four of those matches, including Oct. 28 when it scored two goals within 72 seconds late in the second half to rally past No. 2 UCLA, 2-1, on the road. It was similar to a 2-1 victory at Colorado on Oct. 7 when the Cardinal scored two goals within 37 seconds of the 79th minute.

SECOND-HALF DOMINANCE: The Cardinal has outscored opponents, 34-7, in the second half, following a trend. Since 2008, Stanford has outscored opponents in the second half by 198-35. However, the first half hasn't been bad either, by a 149-21 count. The last time Stanford has been outscored in the second half for a season was in 2007.

RECORD AGAINST NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS: Stanford is 12-1-1 against NCAA tournament teams, with a combined goal advantage of 37-9. Stanford won seven of those matches by shutout. Here is the list:

Aug. 17: at Stanford 6, Santa Clara 1
Aug. 24: Stanford 3, at Penn State 2
Aug. 26: West Virginia 1, Stanford 0, at Penn State
Aug. 31: at Stanford 1, Boston College 1 (2OT)
Sept. 9: at Stanford 6, Georgetown 0
Sept. 14: Stanford 1, San Diego State 0, at Santa Clara
Sept. 23: at Stanford 3, Arizona State 0
Oct. 18: at Stanford 3, Washington State 2
Oct. 21: at Stanford 3, Washington 0
Oct. 28: Stanford 2, at UCLA 1
Nov. 4: Stanford 1, at California 0
Nov. 9: at Stanford 3, Idaho State 0
Nov. 16: at Stanford 2, Santa Clara 1
Nov. 18: at Stanford 3, Denver 0

SENIOR GOALS: On Stanford's Senior Night ceremony, after a 3-0 victory over Washington, the 10 seniors revealed their goals for beyond graduation:

Annie Case: Earn master's in mgt. science and engineering.
Lindsay Dickerson: Take a year off, then attend medical school.
Alina Garciamendez: First pro soccer, then pediatric dentist.
Aly Gleason: Will serve in the U.S. Air Force.
Marjani Hing-Glover: Audition on Broadway.
Mariah Nogueira: Pro soccer, then master's in psychology.
Rachel Quon: Professional soccer.
Madeleine Thompson: Master's in mgt. science & engineering.
Courtney Verloo: Has one more season of eligibility.
Nina Watkins: Master's in marine biology or ski for a year.

POSSIBLE LINEUP
Goalkeeper: Emily Oliver
Carries a 0.47 goals-against average
Left back: Laura Liedle
A Pac-12 All-Freshman team choice
Center back: Alina Garciamendez
World Cup veteran has started every match of Stanford career
Center back: Madeleine Thompson
Senior has started 10 games this season
Right back: Rachel Quon
Four-time all-conference selection; dangerous in attack
Midfield: Mariah Nogueira
Has scored seven goals, six on headers.
Midfield: Alex Doll
Work-rate is second to none; has scored two goals in playoffs
Midfield: Nina Watkins
Moved into starting lineup on Oct. 11; big goal in third round
Forward: Lo'eau LaBonta
Moved from midfield to forward on Oct. 11; outstanding skills
Forward: Chioma Ubogagu
Returned to team in mid-September from U-20 World Cup
Forward: Courtney Verloo
Team scoring leader with 29 points (10 goals, 10 assists)

RANKINGS: Stanford finished the regular season entrenched at No. 1 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire Coaches' Poll. In other rankings, Stanford is No. 1 by Soccer America, Top Drawer Soccer, Soccer Times, and Our Game.

OLYMPIC REPRESENTATION: At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Stanford was represented by four players -- the biggest representation by any school. Three former Cardinal played for the gold medal-winning United States team: U.S. co-captain and defender Rachel Buehler (class of 2007), starting defender Kelley O'Hara (`10), and backup goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart (`04). In addition, outside back Ali Riley (`10) was fixture for New Zealand. Also, Christen Press (`12) was an alternate to the U.S. team, and Alina Garciamendez (`13) and Teresa Noyola (`12) were on the Mexico team that finished one qualifying victory short of advancing to London.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST: All-America midfielder Mariah Nogueira is one of 10 finalists for the women's soccer Senior CLASS Award, which honors those who excel in athletics, academics, and community service. Nogueira, a senior captain, carries a 3.63 cumulative GPA. She has been involved with Special Olympics, the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative, and weekly tutoring for young students from East Palo Alto, among other community service works. Nogueira has also done charity work with a group called "Kids Alive" in the Dominican Republic. The selection process includes fan voting through November 19th at www.seniorCLASSaward.com.

TWO-SPORT ATHLETES: Stanford has two players who also play another sport for Stanford. Midfielder Hannah Farr was an all-conference lacrosse player last spring. She scored 23 goals and had four assists for Stanford in the spring and became the first freshman named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first team since 2007. Goalkeeper Aly Gleason played on the Stanford rugby team that reached the national title game.