Sept. 10, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. -- Unlike her tying goal, Christen Press' overtime winner was not necessarily a thing of beauty. But it was enough to complete a comeback from a second-half deficit and lift No. 2 Stanford to a 2-1 victory over No. 23 Georgia at the Stanford Nike Invitational on Friday night.
With 39 seconds left in the first 10-minute overtime, a header from Press deflected off a defender and into the goal to win the Cardinal's home opener, even though hadn't quite planned it that way.
"Heading is not my strength," said Press, who scored both Stanford goals. "Coaches have been telling me to jump in the air and get some strength behind it. So, I jumped up and tried to head it back this way, and I didn't get enough power, so it went that way.
"But, you know, I'll take it."
Stanford (3-0-2) fell behind in the 15th minute when Marah Falle chipped a ball over goalkeeper Kira Maker from the right side. Georgia (4-2), an athletic team that can run and apply pressure all over the field, seemed to gain in confidence and forced Stanford into errors.
Stanford attacked often, with Press getting behind the defense and forcing a foot save from Georgia goalkeeper Ashley Baker, who would make 11 saves, including a diving save off the foot of Lindsay Taylor late in the first half.
Despite 23 shots in the match, Stanford seemed to lack something on the offensive hand. Coach Paul Ratcliffe, trying to find just the right formula, used eight players at forward. He began with freshman Taylor McCann, making her first start, and followed with freshman Sydney Payne, and even moved up starting defenders Camille Levin and Courtney Verloo to the front line at times during the match.
Afterward, the coach's message was one of tenacity. The days of walking through its schedule with a series of big victories seem over.
"Like the coaches' said, `a win's a win,'" Press said. "Sometimes you have to win even if you don't play well.
"It's definitely different than last year, when everyone would know that this game is 3-0. And this year, everyone knows that you have to play as hard as we can to ever have those results."
Press tied it at 78:01 when she took a square pass just outside the box from Camille Levin and lofted a shot that floated just under crossbar in the upper far corner of the goal. The spinning, knuckling shot could not have been placed any better.
"That was more finesse," Press said. "I wasn't thinking about it for once, as opposed to a fast break and I try to shove it into the net. When you don't think about it then it ends up looking pretty."
The winner came after a throw-in in the final minute. Press knew outside back Rachel Quon had put numerous balls into the box, she floated through the penalty area in anticipation of another Quon cross. Baker dived to her right, but the deflection sent the ball inside the opposite post, ending the match at 99:21.
The pair of goals gave Press five for the season and 50 for her career, making her one of four in Stanford history to reach that plateau. Press passed Marcia Wallis (1999-2002) and Erin Martin (1993-96), who each had 49 career goals, on the all-time list.
Freshman goalkeeper Emily Oliver received her first collegiate action, relieving Maker at halftime. She made one save and played aggressively to reach to reach shots and passes.
No. 9 Santa Clara beat Pacific, 2-1, in the first match of the doubleheader and takes on Georgia at 11:30 a.m., on Sunday. Stanford follows against Pacific at 2 p.m., at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, with the Stanford men completing the tripleheader against Sacramento State at 6 p.m.