STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 Stanford opens a seven-game home stand when it plays host to Notre Dame on Friday at 6 p.m. PT at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal (4-0-0) captured wins at BYU (Aug. 30) and Minnesota (Sept. 2) last week to continue its perfect start – Sunday's win was Stanford's 26th in a row, a program record. Stanford also hosts No. 2 North Carolina on Sunday with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m.
Both contests will air on Pac-12 Networks with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.
Friday's Opponent, Notre Dame
• Stanford enters Friday with a 6-7-3 (.469) all-time record against the Fighting Irish. The last two matchups between the programs have ended in a double-overtime draw, most recently a 2-2 result at Cagan Stadium during the 2016 season.
• The Fighting Irish (4-2-0, 0-0-0 ACC) started the season 3-0 before dropping two of three, including a 1-0 loss against Ohio State on Sunday. Four players lead the team with four points apiece, while Mattie Interian and Brooke Littman have played three games apiece in goal, the latter carrying a 3-0 record.
Sunday's Opponent, North Carolina
• Stanford owns a 1-9-3 (.192) overall record against North Carolina. The most recent matchup between the two programs came in the 2014 season when Stanford earned a 1-0 overtime win in Chapel Hill, North Carolina – redshirt seniors Jaye Boissiere and Alison Jahansouz were freshmen.
• The Tar Heels (5-0-1) climbed to No. 2 in the latest United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll after wins over Providence and Marquette last week. Julia Ashley leads the team with six points, while goalkeepers Claudia Dickey and Samantha Leshnak have each appeared in all six contests. North Carolina has surrendered just two goals all season.
September to Remember
• Stanford hosts seven matches in the month of September, including five who ranked or received votes in the latest top-25 poll.
• In addition to Notre Dame and No. 2 North Carolina, Stanford also plays host to Cal Poly (Sept. 13), No. 12 Santa Clara (Sept. 16), Arizona (Sept. 21), No. 7 UCLA (Sept. 27) and No. 4 USC (Sept. 30).
Stanford in the Polls
• Stanford retained its place atop the United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll, garnering 33 of 35 first-place votes – North Carolina, Florida State, USC and Texas A&M rounded out the top five.
• Eleven of Stanford's 19 regular-season opponents ranked or received votes in the poll – North Carolina (2), USC (4), UCLA (7), Santa Clara (12), Washington State (17), Minnesota (RV), Notre Dame (RV), Arizona (RV), Colorado (RV), Oregon (RV) and California (RV).
2??6?? in a row. ?? #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Women's Soccer (@stanfordwsoc) on Sep 2, 2018 at 12:37pm PDT
Streaking Stanford
• Stanford's 2-1 win at Minnesota on Sunday made it 26 in a row, a program record. Previously, Stanford had won 25 games in a row during the 2009 season and from 2011-12.
• The Cardinal's win streak ranks tied for eighth, all-time, and is the longest in Division I soccer since Notre Dame won 26 in a row in 2008.
• The longest unbeaten streak in program history stands at 28.
• Stanford's streak of not allowing a goal from open play ended on Sunday at 2,243:10 – the last goal scored from the run of play before Minnesota came on Aug. 25, 2017.
• Stanford has trailed for a total of 8:59 minutes over the course of 2017-18.
Leading the Pac
• Stanford leads the Pac-12 and ranks fourth, nationally, in goals per game at 3.50. The Cardinal also ranks second in the Pac-12 in points per game with 10.25.
• Stanford's 0.50 goals-against average ranks 35th, nationally, and tied for fourth in the Pac-12.
• Catarina Macario leads the Pac-12 in goals per game (1.50) with three in her two appearances. Macario has scored in 17 of her 27 career appearances at Stanford with 20 career goals.
• Alison Jahansouz (3-0) ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in goals-against average with 0.33.
A Look Back
• Stanford clinched its longest win streak in program history with a 2-1, overtime win at Minnesota on Sept. 2. Sam Hiatt's golden goal in the 94th minute sealed the win after Beattie Goad opened the scoring in the first half.
• Goals from Catarina Macario and Jojo Harber, as well as five saves by Alison Jahansouz, lifted Stanford to a 2-0 win at BYU on Aug. 30.
• The Cardinal improved to 20-0-0, all-time, against San Francisco on Friday with a 5-1 win at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Making her collegiate debut, Sophia Smith scored once and assisted another. Catarina Macario added two goals, Jordan DiBiasi scored with two assists and Civana Kuhlmann upped her team-leading point total to five with one goal and one assist.
• Stanford began its 2018 campaign with a convincing 5-0 win at UC Davis on Friday. Michelle Xiao, Tierna Davidson, Alana Cook and Civana Kuhlmann scored and Alison Jahansouz handled the only shot she faced all day to earn the shutout.
• The Cardinal earned a 4-0 exhibition win over Fresno State on Aug. 10 with goals from Catarina Macario, Sam Tran, Xiao and Jordan DiBiasi. Lauren Rood did not face a single shot as Stanford outshot the Bulldogs 27-0.
Got skillz? ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/oM0XQtnyY0
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) September 3, 2018
Davidson's Duty
• Junior defender Tierna Davidson missed Stanford's games at BYU and Minnesota while on duty with the United States national team for games against Chile on Aug. 31 and Sept. 4.
• 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.
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.
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 returned 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.
Champions Again
• 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.