Aug. 27, 2006
Santa Clara, Calif. - The Stanford women's soccer team dropped a close game with the No. 23 Wake Forest Demon Deacons this afternoon, in the final day of the Santa Clara/adidas Classic. Wake Forest netted a goal in the 93rd minute to overtake the Cardinal and post a 2-1 overtime victory. Stanford falls to 0-2 on the season, while Wake Forest improves to 1-1.
The Cardinal wasted no time taking control of the game in the first half. Just under six minutes in, junior April Wall sent a well-placed ball across the middle to sophomore Hillary Heath. Heath connected and sent a bouncing header past Wake Forest goalkeeper Kaitlyn Doe, giving the Cardinal a 1-0 lead. Heath's goal was her first of the season and the second of her career.
Four minutes later, Wall and Heath teamed up again to threaten the Demon Deacon defense, but Wall's cross was gathered up by Doe before Heath could connect.
Wake Forest began their attack in the 12th minute, with an indirect free kick opportunity from the right side. Sophomore Allison Falk stepped up for the Cardinal and deflected the dangerous cross. On the ensuing corner kick, Falk again denied the Demon Deacons a clean look at the goal.
Stanford answered the Wake Forest surge with a series of opportunities in the 16th minute. Sophomore Lea MacKinnon sent a series of balls from the right side, but the Cardinal was unable to find the back of the net.
With 12 minutes remaining in the half, Stanford again pushed for an insurance goal. Kelley Birch's header off of a Kate Mannino pass went wide, and on the following corner kick, Falk's header from Birch missed the goal to the right. Five minutes later, junior Lizzy George dribbled in and sent a hard shot inches left of the net. Freshman Kristin Stannard and George sent two more balls wide before an on-target Stannard shot was knocked out by the Wake Forest keeper. Stanford went into the break with the momentum and a 1-0 lead.
Wake Forest came out in the second half, however, and put the pressure on the Stanford defense. The Cardinal denied three consecutive corner kick attempts in the 72nd minute, with Wall and Rachel Buehler leading the defensive effort.
In the 84th minute, Wake Forest's Allie Sadow sent a pass to Megan Upchurch on the left side of the goal. Upchurch knocked a header to the back of the net and gave the Demon Deacons the equalizer. Just a minute later, Jayme Liegh Cargoni's open look hit the post and the teams finished regulation knotted at 1-1.
Wake Forest quickly took possession in overtime and challenged the Stanford back line. Just over two minutes into the extra period, Upchurch struck again, netting the sudden victory goal off of a pass from Amanda Lebo.
Stanford finished the match with 10 shots to Wake Forest's nine. Goalkeeper Alex Gamble had three saves.
Stanford returns to action on Friday, when the team will play its home-opener against the San Francisco Dons. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Maloney Field.