STANFORD, Calif. – In a season in which Stanford set a program record with 102 goals, it was the Cardinal's grit, determination and mental toughness that ultimately secured the program's third national championship on Dec. 8 at Avaya Stadium in San Jose, California.
After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, Top-seeded Stanford defeated No. 2 North Carolina, 5-4, in a penalty kick shootout with Kiki Pickett scoring the deciding penalty kick and Katie Meyer making a pair of saves in the shootout.
This video ?? ????????????????????. ??#GoStanford #NextStartsNow pic.twitter.com/MxCdYUoC6T
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 10, 2019
Catarina Macario set virtually every offensive record in school history, finishing with 32 goals and 23 assists, well ahead of the previous marks held by the likes of Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press. Macario went on to win her third-consecutive ESPNW Player of the Year award to go with her second-straight MAC Hermann Trophy, becoming just the sixth player in history to win the award in back-to-back seasons.
2019, By the Numbers
832:03 – From Sept. 28 to Nov. 3, Stanford did not allow a goal, a run that spanned 832:03 minutes.
660 – Stanford registered 660 shots in 2019, leading the nation with 26.4 shots per game.
325 – Sophia Smith made her return from injury on Sept. 8, 2019 after 325 days, having suffered a season-ending injury on Oct. 18, 2018 during her freshman season. Smith finished 2019 with 17 goals, which ties for the seventh-most in program history, and took home College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player honors after bagging a hat trick against UCLA in the semifinal.
The performance of a lifetime ?? @sophsssmith #GoStanford #NextStartsNow
A post shared by Stanford Women's Soccer (@stanfordwsoc) on Dec 7, 2019 at 7:03am PST
320 – The Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer Paul Ratcliffe enters 2020 with 320 career wins at Stanford, including 53 postseason wins.
133 – Stanford allowed just 133 shots in 2019, including just 1.92 shots on goal per game.
125 - Stanford's 125 national championships are the most of any school.
Just a friendly reminder: @GoStanford leads all schools with 1?2?5? NCAA titles. #BackThePac pic.twitter.com/jrYRCY5GZ2
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) December 13, 2019
102 – Just two years after setting a new program record with 91 goals in 2017, Stanford reached triple digits for the first time in program history with four players scoring double-digit goals. Stanford's 102 goals are the 18th-most in NCAA history and are the most since Notre Dame netted 110 in 2005.
Final Tallies ??@madog_9 ?? » 1??1?? | ??? » 1??4??@catarinamacario ?? » 3??2?? | ??? » 2??3??@sophsssmith ?? » 1??7?? | ??? » 9??#GoStanford #NextStartsNow pic.twitter.com/RHhpPXOOLR
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 15, 2019
87 – Catarina Macario's 87 points are the most in program history by 22 and the third-most in NCAA history behind only Christine Sinclair (88) and Mia Hamm (97). Coincidentally, Stanford's senior class finishes its four-year run at Stanford with an 87-5-2 all-time record.
A post shared by Stanford Women's Soccer (@stanfordwsoc) on Dec 17, 2019 at 8:09am PST
70 – Catarina Macario, Sophia Smith, Madison Haley and Carly Malatskey combined for 70 goals and 190 points, outscoring every other Division I program with the exception of BYU while its point total exceeded 331 of 334 other programs.
69 – Stanford's rising seniors own a 69-3-2 record in three seasons, winning all three Pac-12 titles and two national championships. The Cardinal has outscored its opposition 254-33 since the class arrived on The Farm.
You may know her for scoring the deciding PK in Sunday's College Cup final, but what's a typical day in the life of @kiki33pickett at @Stanford University look like? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/2QDJ1MU9SR
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 9, 2019
61 – Stanford finished its home schedule with a 61-4 goal difference at home in 12 games.
47 – Catarina Macario's 47 career assists are the most in program history by six – her 14 career postseason assists are more than double any other player in history.
42 – Stanford's home unbeaten streak stays alive heading into the 2020 season with the Cardinal earning a perfect 12-0-0 record at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium in 2019. The streak is the seventh-longest such streak in NCAA history with the Cardinal outscoring opponents 161-12 at home during that time.
Best Thing I Saw Today
— Stanford Steve (@StanfordSteve82) December 9, 2019
Shoutout to @StanfordWSoccer
Congrats on another title! pic.twitter.com/YDB9fBZPsa
41 – Stanford is unbeaten in its last 41 Pac-12 matches, a streak that dates to Oct. 18, 2016. The streak ties for the sixth-longest such streak in NCAA history and is the longest of any program since Stanford went 44 games unbeaten in conference play from 2008-13.
32 – Catarina Macario's program-record goal tally, six more than the previous record shared by Christen Press (2010) and Kelley O'Hara (2009).
Add another piece of hardware to the trophy case of @catarinamacario & @madog_9, who share a truly special bond off the field. ???? #GoStanford #NextStartsNow pic.twitter.com/E7r6AuhKyj
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 14, 2019
25 – Kiki Pickett, Naomi Girma and Catarina Macario were the only Cardinal to start all 25 games.
Love wins. ????????????. ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/FqiyN76Z6v
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 11, 2019
23 – Catarina Macario's program-record assists tally, seven more than the previous record she shared with Christen Press.
19 – Stanford finished the season on a 19-match win streak after its only loss of the season at Pepperdine (Sept. 13). Stanford owned a 76-8 goal difference over its last 19 games with the College Cup final being counted as a win despite 110 minutes of play ending 0-0.
17 – Stanford surrendered only 17 shots on target across 11 matches in Pac-12 conference play.
15 – Stanford set a program and NCAA postseason record with 15 goals in a shutout win over Prairie View A&M on Nov. 15. Three players recorded hat tricks, including Bianca Caetano-Ferrara, who had never scored in a Stanford uniform before that night.
12 – One of 12 Stanford students enrolled in the Mayfield Fellows Program, Carly Malatskey netted 10 goals during her senior season.
.@cmalatskey is on track to graduate @Stanford with a degree in science, technology & society in 2020. ??
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 11, 2019
She's also a ?? time @NCAASoccer champion and is 1 of 12 Stanford students enrolled in the Mayfield Fellows Program. ??#GoStanford #NextStartsNow pic.twitter.com/RZ4ZHpw0lJ
10 – Stanford played in the College Cup for the 10th time – the Cardinal has qualified for nine of the last 12 College Cups.
9 – Stanford finished 2019 9-0-0 against ranked opposition with a 25-6 goal difference in such matches.
8 – Eight Cardinal were named All-Pac-12, including Midfielder of the Year Catarina Macario and Defender of the Year Naomi Girma.
7 – Stanford has won its last seven meetings with UCLA, a streak dating to Oct. 9, 2014.
Take a bow, @sophsssmith ?????? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/24j9RAZJ6a
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 7, 2019
5 – Stanford became the first program in history to win the Pac-12 conference championship outright five times in a row. The Pac-12 conference boasted the nation's highest non-conference (77-14-9) and NCAA Tournament (19-8-1) win percentage.
4 – Prior to the College Cup, four Cardinal were called into training camp with the full United States National Team – Naomi Girma, Madison Haley, Kiki Pickett and Sophia Smith.
Treeunion goals ???? #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Women's Soccer (@stanfordwsoc) on Dec 13, 2019 at 2:46pm PST
3 – Katie Meyer saved three penalty kicks in the College Cup – one against UCLA (Dec. 6) in the semifinal and two in the deciding penalty kick shootout against North Carolina (Dec. 8).
2 – Catarina Macario and Madison Haley were named CoSIDA and United Soccer Coaches Academic All-Americans, giving Stanford 10 Academic All-Americans in its history. Macario and Haley were the only Academic All-Americans to compete at the College Cup.
.@madog_9 & @catarinamacario were each named first-team Scholar All-America by @UnitedCoaches, as announced Wednesday. #GoStanford https://t.co/TXl9wZxT4A
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) December 18, 2019