Aug. 30, 2002
Santa Clara, Calif. - The Stanford women's soccer team opened its season with a 3-0 win over the defending NCAA Champion Santa Clara Broncos on Friday night at Buck Shaw Stadium. The 4,756 fans witnessed the first time the Cardinal has beaten the Broncos since the 1994 season.
Marcia Wallis (Los Gatos, CA) started the offensive threat early just three minutes into the game, nearly getting her first goal of the 2002 season. After getting the Bronco goalkeeper out of position, Brittany Oliveira (Los Angeles, CA) stole the ball in front of the goal and fired into the back of the net to take the 1-0 lead.
Stanford extended its advantage in the second half when Marcie Ward (Alamo, CA) took a pass from Wallis to go up 2-0. Callie Withers (Los Altos Hills, CA) added another insurance goal in the second half at 69:37. Katherine Harrington (Fort Worth, TX) took the corner kick and served up a pass and Withers was able to head the ball in for the finish.
Redshirt sophomore Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, PA) picked up her first career shutout, recording five saves. The Cardinal out-shot the Broncos 16-12 in the match.
Stanford will face Texas A&M, the team that eliminated the Cardinal in the NCAA Tournament last year, in its home opener on Friday, September 6 at 5 p.m.