Nov. 14, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Stanford women's soccer team dropped out of the 2003 NCAA Tournament after a loss in first-round action to ninth-seeded Santa Clara 1-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium on Friday.
"Santa Clara is a talented team and it was a hard fought game," Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "There were lots of talented players on the field."
The first period proved a slow one for the Cardinal offense as the Broncos tallied five shots before Stanford's Leah Tapscott was able to fire off an attempt in the 25th minute that was saved by SCU goalkeeper Julie Ryder. The half ended with Santa Clara leading in shot attempts 8-3 and the score tied at 0-0.
The 58th minute proved to be the deciding factor in the match as Santa Clara's Marian Dalmy took a low cross from Veronica Zepeda for the lone score.
The Cardinal were able to notch only five shots after averaging 14.9 shots per game during the regular season. Senior co-captain Allyson Marquand led with two shots on goal. All-American goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart tallied three saves.
"I felt it was a pretty even game. In the first half we had chances and Santa Clara had chances," Marquand said. "The momentum switched in the second period, but I still think the game was fairly even."