Title Defense BeginsTitle Defense Begins
Al Chang/Stanford Athletics
Women's Soccer

Title Defense Begins

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STANFORD, Calif. – Defending national champion Stanford opens its 2018 campaign Friday when it travels to play UC Davis at 4 p.m. PT in Davis, California.
 
After nearly three weeks of preseason preparation, including a 4-0 exhibition win over Fresno State last week, the Cardinal enters this season riding a 22-game win streak from 2017, culminating in Stanford's second national championship.
 
Welcome to Stanford
2 • Naomi Girma • Defender/Midfielder • San Jose, Calif. (Pioneer)
3 • Sophia Smith • Forward • Windsor, Colo. (Fossil Ridge)
12 • Sierra Enge • Defender/Midfielder • Cardiff, Calif. (Pacific Ridge)
19 • Katie Meyer • Goalkeeper • Newbury Park, Calif. (Newbury Park)
24 • Abby Greubel • Forward • Santa Ana, Calif. (Foothill)
27 • Bianca Caetano-Ferrara • Midfielder • San Diego, Calif. (Cathedral Catholic)
30 • Maya Shetty • Goalkeeper • Morgantown, W.Va. (University)

Friday and Beyond
• Stanford enters Friday's matchup with a 6-2-1 all-time record against the Aggies. Most recently, Stanford defeated UC Davis, 2-1, in an exhibition match in Davis, California, last season.
• Thirteen of Stanford's 19 contests will air on Pac-12 Networks, with nine of Stanford's opponents appeared in last year's NCAA Tournament.
• Six of Stanford's opponents ranked in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason top-25 – UCLA (2), North Carolina (6), USC (12), Notre Dame (14), Santa Clara (19) and Washington State (21).
• Starting Sept. 7 against Notre Dame, Stanford hosts seven matches in a row, including the highly-anticipated nonconference matchup with North Carolina. In the month of September, Stanford hosts five teams which rank in the top-25.
• Senior Day is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 21 when the Cardinal hosts Colorado for the final regular-season match of 2018. Stanford finishes its regular season schedule with matches at Washington, Washington State and California.
 
Coaching Updates
• Stanford's women's and men's soccer coaching positions were endowed through a gift from Louise '57 and Ray Knowles '56. Paul Ratcliffe assumes the role of Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer, while on the men's side Jeremy Gunn transitions to the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer. Both graduates of Stanford, the Knowles have been important benefactors to the athletics department for many years. They had previously concentrated their philanthropy on scholarships for men's and women's golf programs – the positions are the 14th and 15th endowed head coach positions and 26th and 27th overall endowed positions in athletics.
• Hideki Nakada was promoted to associate head coach, as announced by Ratcliffe on Feb. 23. Nakada was named Stanford's top assistant in 2014, with the Cardinal going 81-7-6 in all competitions since his arrival.
• Kayley Sullivan was named volunteer assistant coach in July. Sullivan, a former Division I student-athlete at George Washington, is the older sister of former standout and 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy winner Andi Sullivan.

Plenty Coming Back
• The bulk of Stanford's 2017 team returns for 2018, losing seniors Andi Sullivan, Mariah Lee and Kyra Carusa – 76 percent of the Cardinal's program-record 91 goals and 85 percent of Stanford's 89 assists return from last season.
• As a freshman, Catarina Macario led the nation in points (50) and assists (16), joining Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press as the only Cardinal in program history to register 50 or more points. Macario's 17 goals broke Lindsay Taylor's freshman record and rank sixth, all-time, while her 16 helpers tied Press' program record set in 2009. Cardinal freshmen accounted for 35.4 of the teams points in 2017.
• Seven Cardinal who registered 12 or more points return – Macario (50), Jaye Boissiere (28), Jordan DiBiasi (28), Michelle Xiao (22), Civana Kuhlmann (22), Tierna Davidson (12) and Madison Haley (12).
• Stanford tied a program record with 19 shutouts last season, with goalkeepers Alison Jahansouz (15-1-0) and Lauren Rood (9-0-0) combining to allow just nine goals over 2250:00 minutes of play. Jahansouz's 11 shutouts tie for eighth, all-time, while her seven goals allowed ranks fifth in program history (min. 50% of games).
• Stanford returns a wealth of defenders after finishing last season on a 1,988:59-minute streak of not allowing a goal from open play. From Sept. 21-Oct. 29, Stanford went 788:28 minutes without allowing a goal. Defenders Alana Cook, Davidson and Kiki Pickett started a combined 74-of-75 games last season with Tegan McGrady pitching in five assists in 16 appearances at left back. The Cardinal also returns Sam Hiatt who, along with Pickett, will start the season at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in France with the United States. 
 
Off The Farm
• Goalkeeper Alison Jahansouz serves as an analyst at Asset Management Ventures in Palo Alto – she has also interned with Grand Rounds in San Francisco as a data analyst.
• Jahansouz also serves as a research assistant in the Engleman Lab at the Stanford Blood Center, previously working as a research assistant for Matt Spitzer in 2015 at the Stanford Blood Center, studying immunology for breast cancer treatment.
• Midfielder Michelle Xiao currently conducts research under the guidance of Dr. Geoff Abrams, studying the effects of microRNAs on tendinopathy -- as a part of the Stanford Bio-X USRP program, worked in the Stanford Soft Tissue Biomechanics Lab (STBL) analyzing MRI of knee cartilage to detect early osteoarthritic changes.
• During the summer of 2016, Xiao spent time in the medicinal chemistry research lab at the University of Nebraska Medical Center working on synthesizing small molecules that could treat Alzheimer's Disease. She published a paper from this research in the Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters Journal titled "Design and Synthesis of New Piperidone Grafted Acetylcholinesterase".
• Defender Carly Malatskey currently manages Main Quad Rentals at Stanford, which primarily rents beds to Stanford students. Malatskey currently takes classes at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, studying innovation and organization as part of her science, technology and society major.
• In December of 2017, Malatskey participated in an Innovation and Entrepreneurship program in Israel, working with startups and larger companies such as Ebay and Intel.
• In 2017, midfielder Jaye Boissiere was a consulting intern with Z.S. Associates, a healthcare firm, after spending the summer of 2016 researching immigration policy at Stanford's political science department.
• Boissiere has also conducted research on Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia with the Maternal Fetal Medicine department at Stanford Hospital, where she was born.
• Senior Tegan McGrady interned at NBC Bay Area News in the summer of 2018.
• Forward Ceci Gee has coordinated and hosted multiple fundraising events in order to buy and deliver soccer gear for underprivileged girls' soccer teams in Nairobi, Kenya.
• In the summer of 2018, defender Alana Cook interned at SyncThink Inc. under former Stanford head of athletic training Scott Anderson.
• In the summer of 2018, defender Beattie Goad interned in Susie Nilsson's lab at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), focusing on stem cell and cancer research -- presented research at Stanford's human biology symposium on Aug. 10
• Defender Sam Hiatt volunteers at the Northwest Harvest Food Bank and Special Olympics.
• Forward Catarina Macario organized a collective soccer donation of equipment and clothing for children in Brazil.
• Defender Jojo Harber is a six-year member of the National Charity League (2012-17), spending time volunteering with the Special Olympics, YWCA and Northwest Harvest Food Bank.
• Defender Kiki Pickett is a participant in the Food From the Heart program and at the Unity Shoppe.
• Forward Madison Haley is a service coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club in South Dallas, having served as the treasurer for the National Honors Society as well as a tutor at Lee A. McShan Elementary School.
 
Davidson's Duty
• Junior defender Tierna Davidson earned her first senior United States national team cap against Denmark on Jan. 21. She became the first United States international since Julie Foudy to play every minute of her first five caps, earning starts against England, France and Germany in the She Believes Cup.
• She was one of three Americans to play every minute of the She Believes Cup, establishing herself as a key member of the squad entering 2019, a World Cup year.
• A key part of Stanford's starting XI, Davidson started all 25 games in 2017 and played nearly every minute of the season with three goals and six assists. She was named the College Cup's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, first-team All-America and TopDrawerSoccer Best XI first team while earning a Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention.

Catch these 5 on the Hermann Trophy Watch ?? List.

A post shared by Stanford Women's Soccer (@stanfordwsoc) on Aug 9, 2018 at 8:44pm PDT

Preseason Awards Wrap Up
• Stanford had an NCAA-high five student-athletes named to the watch list for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, the highest individual honor in college soccer – Tierna Davidson, Catarina Macario, Jaye Boissiere, Tegan McGrady and Alana Cook each made the list.
• Davidson and Macario were named to TopDrawerSoccer's Preseason Best XI first team with Cook and Jordan DiBiasi earning berths on the second XI. McGrady was picked for the third XI while freshman Sophia Smith was named to the freshman XI.
• The Cardinal garnered 11-of-12 first-place votes in the preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll. Stanford's 121 points ranked ahead of UCLA (109), USC (98) and California (94).
• Stanford picked up 34-of-35 votes in the preseason United Soccer Coaches top-25.

A Look Back
• Stanford captured its second national championship in 2017 after a 3-2 win over UCLA in the College Cup final on Dec. 3, 2017. Jaye Boissiere's goal in the 67th minute broke a 2-2 tie, and Stanford held on for its 22nd win in a row to claim the title.
• The Cardinal also won its 12th Pac-12 Conference Title and third in a row.
• Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer Paul Ratcliffe was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the eighth time – no other coach has won the award more than twice.
• Tierna Davidson and Catarina Macario were named first-team All-America while a further eight returners eared All-Pac-12 recognition