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Women's Soccer Season OutlookA season on the brink.
Jan. 28, 1998 John Feinstein, a noted sportswriter, authored a book not too long ago entitled "A Season On The Brink". For some reason that title keeps popping up in my mind when I reflect back on this season. For all practical purposes it really was a season on the brink. We tasted some success but also suffered through our share of adversity. However, to the teams credit we ended with a great run, an eight game unbeaten streak which took us beyond the brink and into a state of anticipation toward the year ahead. In so many ways we improved by leaps and bounds from last year, yet did not reap the rewards of previous Stanford teams. We did not make it to the post season which was very disappointing for all of us (especially since we were one of three teams on the bubble) however, I honestly believe this could help us in the long run. We have a much better appreciation for what it takes to get there and will use this experience to make us better. Despite the disappointment of not making the tournament, I am proud of this team, how they came together, and the kind of character they displayed throughout the fall. Our eight game unbeaten streak was a tremendous accomplishment at the end of the season and spoke volumes about the kind of team we have become. Most teams would have chucked it after a 4-7 start, but this team rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Our organization both offensively and defensively has improved enormously. In fact, with the exception of one game, no team really got the best of us. We out shot every opponent we faced and at times were very unlucky. Shots do not always reflect the true story, but in our case we deserved better results with the chances we generated. In fact, I really felt our ball movement and team work were exceptional at times and consistently good all year. We scored 20 more goals this year then last and involved almost three times as many players in the scoring from a year ago. Perhaps our biggest improvement though comes in an area that is hard to measure, but is as important as any other element in the game-Team Chemistry. We return the bulk of our squad next season including our five injured players and it is one that is as tight as any I have coached. The fiber that unites this group is strong and more importantly, it has now been tested. This can only help us next year. Our three seniors, Emily Burt, Elie Foster, and Rita Hermiz had tremendous years. Emily finished with 17 goals and 5 assists to lead the team in scoring. She also led the nation in game winning goals with 8. She was our go to player and provided us with great leadership throughout the year. Elie Foster was our engine in the midfield. She made our team go and had her best season offensively scoring critical goals at key moments. She too provided great leadership and consistently won the midfield battles in every game. Rita had a tremendous year from start to finish. Her service from the wing is now legendary and she gave us a true threat on the right flank. Her spirit will be missed next season as she always rose to the challenge in big games. These three have given so much to the program in the past four years and my only regret is that I was only able to coach them for two years. They truly are excellent players, outstanding students, and even better human beings. In January of 97, at the beginning of this year, the team had a long talk about what it takes to be successful. During our meeting we spoke about deserving to succeed. Before anyone or any team can succeed they must first deserve to succeed. On the field, this means putting forth in effort in the weight room, during the winter and spring months, in practice, and on their own especially during the summer. This alone does not guarantee success, but it is the first step that all teams need to take in order to be successful. Perhaps this is what makes this season hard to quantify. I really felt this team deserved to make it to the tournament and was on the brink of doing just that. However, as is often the case in the game of soccer, and in life, it did not happen the way we would have hoped. To me, the fact that we deserved it, is more important than actually getting it. It is the journey that is important. I know our time will come and I look forward to beginning a new journey in January. From one program to another we would like to congratulate our men?s soccer team for an outstanding season. The ?Lads? along with head coach Bobby Clark, and assistants Geoff Wheeler and Brian Wiese had a record setting year finishing with a 13-5-2 mark and making into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991. They made it all the way to #2 in the country and set a number of records in the process. We train along side and often times with the men, so it is not surprising to see the success they have enjoyed this year. They work hard and play together and at times during the year made things look easy. However, because of our interaction we know how difficult it really is and appreciate all the effort they have put into the season. Congratulations and let?s get ready to do it again in 1998! Our new stadium continues to take shape. The new location provided a wonderful setting for both teams this past season. We are moving forward with Phase 2 which includes lights and permanent bleachers. We have received tremendous support from men?s alums, Rocky Barbor, Grant Heidrich, Ward Krebs, Paul Ormond, Loren Kieve, Sam Casey, Keith Burnett, David Griffin, Michael Frank, and Bruce Mosbacher for the lights. Rocky has offered $125,000 on the condition that a further $125,000 will be raised on a 1:1 ratio to fulfill the installation costs of $250,000. Along with Rocky, these alums have managed to raise all but $45,000. I feel when the stadium is complete it will rival any other in terms of quality, setting, and atmosphere. Anyone still willing to help with further contributions, please contact us at the soccer office. Thanks to the parents for their tremendous support, not to mention the spreads many of them have provided for the team after or before games. John and Becky Burt deserve special recognition as they hosted the team three times during the year. The Livermore?s, Kim?s, Bernard?s, and Horney?s also gave us a taste of home. New Maloney Starting to Feel Like Home It seems as though New Maloney soccer field is not only starting to feel like home to the men's and women's soccer programs, but also to the soccer families and fans in the surrounding communities. The average attendance for both programs rose from 390 in 1996 to 557 in 1997. The increased support for and excitement about Stanford soccer is being showcased in this new facility and we feel it is a wonderful environment in which to either compete or watch a collegiate match. Phase I of the New Maloney complex was completed as scheduled this past Fall. A 115x75 yd. laser leveled match field adjacent to a practice area large enough to accommodate both teams at once, was ready to go for the start of preseason in August. The entire area is enclosed by 4' fencing. This phase was brought to a close with the addition of a permanent scoreboard midway through the season. Phase II will begin in 1998 and will involve constructing permanent stands, erecting stadium lights and placing an addition to the scoreboard to display advertisements for our sponsors. The addition of stadium lights will offer the most exciting change to the facility, with the ability to schedule evening matches, thereby attracting greater numbers of students and residents to the games. The more we can fill the stands with Cardinal, the more like home it will feel! Stoffel to Try-out for English National Team Christy Stoffel will travel to England this Winter and Spring quarters not only for the opportunity to study in London. She will also be attempting to secure a position on the English National Team. Stoffel's mother was born in Birmingham, England and as a result qualifies her for dual citizenship. Try-outs will be held in January and if she makes the squad, she will compete in four World Cup qualifying matches between March and August; 2 versus Norway and one each against Germany and Holland. 1998 Captains Kelly Adamson: Kelly returns to action after missing two seasons due to knee injuries. As a freshman, Kelly had 10 goals and 2 assists. She will be looked upon again as one of the main Cardinal scoring threats. Kelly is from Simi Valley, California. Christy Stoffel: Christy has been the starting left midfielder for the past two seasons. She will be in England this Winter and Spring quarter with an opportunity to become a member of the English National Team. Christy is from Solana Beach, California STAFF UPDATE Wendy "Axl" Latimer rejoined the Stanford squad this past Fall. This time, however, as part of the coaching staff. Wendy worked in the office as an administrator for both the men's and women's program and coached on the field with the women's team. She will be pursuing a couple professional options this Winter. Wendy has been offered a tryout with Shiroki in the Japanese women's professional league and has also been awarded a tentative offer of employment with the CIA. She should make her decision on which path to take shortly after the new year. Bill Scott has been an invaluable addition to the Stanford Staff this past season. The incredible rise in attendance (particularly by youngsters) this year, is a credit to the time and effort Bill invested into further developing further Stanford soccer's relationship with the Palo Alto elementary school system. He is currently developing a marketing plan for both programs' 98 seasons. Unfortunately for Stanford Soccer, Bill is on sabbatical for only a year and will be heading back to Massachusetts with his family in January. Stanford Women's Soccer 1997 Season in Review The Records: The Cardinal finished the season with an 11-7-1 record ... Stanford posted a 6-2-1 mark in the Pac-10, finishing in third place behind champion UCLA and second place USC ... Stanford finished the season on an eight-game unbeaten steak ... The Cardinal won seven of its last eight matches while recording one tie ... Over the eight games, Stanford outscored opponents, 26-10. Burt Leaves Her Mark: Senior co-captain Emily Burt turned in one of the best seasons in Stanford soccer history ... Burt set nine career and single season marks over the course of the season ... She ranks second on the single-season goals list (17), fourth in points (39) and 10th in shots on goal (68) ... On the career list she ranks third in games played (80), fourth in games started (79) and points (82) fifth in goals (33), assists (16) and shots on goal (210) ... Burt was named second team All-West Region ... She earned first team All-Pac-10 honors and first team All-Academic Pac-10 recognition ... Burt was named to the Soccer America Collegiate team of the week twice along with earning Pac-10 Player of the Week honors ... She was voted offensive MVP by her teammates. Senior Salute: Burt, Rita Hermiz and Elie Foster played in their final season on The Farm ... Hermiz finished her career at Stanford with 33 points on seven goals and 19 assists ... She ranks 10th on the single season assists list with seven ... She also ranks eighth on the career points list (33) and fifth on the career assists list (19) ... Foster, a 1997 co-captain, played in 76 games, including 74 starts over her four year career at Stanford .... She tallied 11 points on four goals and three assists ... This season, she recorded three goals and one assist ... Foster ranks seventh on the career list for games started (74) ... Foster earned third team All-West Region honors ... Both Hermiz and Foster earned second team All-Pac-10 recognition while Foster earned first team Pac-10 All-Academic recognition. In the Net: Junior Erin Bryla and freshman Carly Smolak shared time at goalkeeper this season for Stanford ... Bryla appeared in 10 matches, including 10 starts, recording 36 saves while posting a 1.53 goals against average ... Smolak played in eleven games, starting nine ... She tallied 11 saves while recording a 1.06 goals against average that includes four shutouts ... Smolak?s goals against average ranks fourth in the conference. Honors and Awards: Burt and sophomore Ronnie Fair earned second team All-West Region honors while Foster earned third team recognition ... Burt, Fair and junior Tracye Lawyer earned first team All-Pac-10 honors while Foster and Hermiz earned second team All-Pac-10 honors ... Burt and Foster were named to Pac-10 All-Academic first team ... Lawyer was named Pac-10 Player of the Week on Sept. 15 while Burt received the honor on Oct. 27 ... Burt earned Soccer America Team of the Week recognition on September 15 and October 26 ... Burt was voted Offensive MVP by her teammates while Fair earned the Defensive MVP honor ... Lawyer was named the Most Improved Player. Head Coach Steve Swanson: Swanson completed his second season at the helm of the Stanford women?s soccer program ... He previously served as the head women?s soccer coach and assistant director of athletics at Dartmouth College from 1990-95 ... Over two seasons at Stanford, Swanson is 23-16-1 ... Swanson?s 1997 squad finished 11-7-1 while finishing the season on an eight-game unbeaten streak ... The Cardinal finished third in the conference with a record of 6-2-1 ... Five of Swanson?s players were named to the 1997 All-Pac-10 team while two earned Pac-10 All-Academic recognition ... In his first season on The Farm, Swanson led the Cardinal to a first place finish in the Pac-10 and a berth in the 1996 NCAA tournament ... The Cardinal finished the season with a 12-9-0 record, including a 6-1-0 mark in conference play ... Four members of Swanson?s 1996 squad earned All-Pac-10 recognition while Erin Martin earned Pac-10 Player of the Year and All-American honors. ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND A RECAP AND A LOOK AHEAD--What we hope will become an annual event, our Women?s Soccer Alumni Weekend was held this past October 4th and 5th. Despite it being a difficult weekend for many alumni to attend, a highly competitive Alumni vs. Alumni match transpired, Saturday, amidst the milieu of tailgaters for the Stanford vs. Notre Dame football game. Donned in modern NIKE uniforms, the alumni were teamed Red vs. White. Of course there was some trash talking, fouling, show-boating, and a lot of heavy breathing...but fun was had by all! Denise Denney scored the controversial and somewhat arbitrary game winning goal to bring victory to the Reds, with a final score of 10-9. Others in attendance were: Kirby (Carin) Seale , Cindy Pearson (?82), Michelle Sullivan (?87), Sue Moore (?85), Tonya Antonucci (?90), Anna ?Tooch? Pattitucci (?95), Wendy ?Axl? Latimer (?97), Dena Dey (?96), Stacy (Cook) Barker (?97), Anita Koshi (?93), Kim Peterson, (?94) Jen ?Scrappy? Stephan (?94), Betsy Diaz, Laura Wilkes (?95), and Andrea ?Picker? Johnson (?95). Current Stanford goalkeepers, Lisa Brooks and Wendi Whitman held strong in the nets for the alums. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed a little ?T and A,? Tony and Alba?s Pizza, that is. In ?98, we hope to build upon this first weekend and generate a larger turnout and a bigger celebration. The Alumni Weekend will coincide with the University?s Homecoming weekend of October 9th - 11th, 1998. The women's team will begin their Pac-10 Conference schedule Friday, Oct. 9th, against Arizona State University and Sunday, Oct. 10th versus the University of Arizona. The football team will host the Oregon State Beavers. Please be on the lookout for further information concerning the ?98 Alumni Weekend. Local alumni, including Cindy Pearson, Denise Denney, and Kirby Seale, will be getting involved to help build this annual event. Thank you to all alumni who were able to attend in ?97 and we look forward to seeing more of you in ?98! Alumni Album Stacy (Cook) Barker (Class of ?97) and her husband Jason are the proud new parents of a baby girl named Haley Rosemary Ann Barker, born Sept 1. at 6:19 am and weighing in at 7 pounds 3 ounces. Stacy, Jason and Haley live in Santa Rosa, CA. The stork also visited Betsy (Swan) Diaz (Class of ?87), a senior mechanical engineer in the PC Division at Hewlett Packard. Betsy, her husband Didier, and their new son Guillaume, live in Woodside, CA. Tonya Antonucci (Class of ?90), a.k.a. Ninja, has returned to the Bay Area from Seattle and is a new Producer in the sports department at Yahoo! Erin Martin (Class of ?97) is currently playing with the Fujita Soccer Club Mercury in the Japanese L-League with former Cardinal teammate Melinda Minstrell. Donna Woodard Salter (Class of ?78) is currently living in Hannibal, Missouri and is a biology/chemistry teacher and JV Girls Soccer Coach at Hannibal High in Missouri. Ceremonial Kick-off As part of our community relations effort, a Palo Alto elementary school was honored at each men's and women's home match. The schools involved invited our program to come into there school and provide a clinic for certain grades. The school's banner hung at the game, posters signed by the players were provided to the schools and a ceremonial kick-off was held prior to the start of the contest. Three Seniors Leave the Farm Farewell to the class of '97A special trio of seniors have left an indelible mark on the Stanford Women's Soccer Program. Emily Burt (Menlo Park, CA), Rita Hermiz (San Diego, CA), and Elie Foster (Minneapolis, MN) have completed their final season with the Cardinal, and although they are less than half of the number who graduated in ''96, they leave behind some mighty big boots to fill. As a group, these three have obtained 2 PAC-10 titles, 3 NCAA tournament appearances and a 55-22-3 record. Each has left an individual history at Stanford which will be long remembered. Emily Burt began her career in 1993 and competed this year as a fifth year senior, while working on her Masters in Education. She started in 79 of 80 career matches. In 1997, Emily scored 17 of her 33 career goals. Eight of those 17 goals were game-winning goals. Emily was also an NCAA Tennis Champion for the Cardinal in '97. Rita Hermiz, an engineering major, started in 57 out of 60 career matches, amassing 33 career points. As a right side midfielder, Rita's driven crosses to the far post became her trademark in 1997. Elie Foster, a four year starting center midfielder and an American studies major, scored 3 of her 4 career goals during her senior season. Elie's ability to evade pressure and cover ground in the middle of the pitch will be truly missed. These three seniors led their Cardinal team by example. All three are true competitors and have passed that important team trait on to those who remain. Stanford Stadium Receives '99 Women's World Cup Semifinal Match!The '99 FIFA Women's World Cup Organizing Committee announced, on November 19, the venues and allocation of the 32 matches that will take place nation-wide in 1999. Stanford Stadium has been awarded a semi-final match which will include the U.S. Team if they advance. The Bay area will also play host to a First-Round double-header and a Quarterfinal double-header at Spartan Stadium, in San Jose. Matches will be held in seven U.S. cities. Giant Stadium, in East Rutherford, NJ, will kick-off this third Women's World Cup with the Opening Ceremonies and the Opening Match. The Final Match was awarded to the Rose Bowl, in Los Angeles. Foxboro Stadium (Boston), Soldier Field (Chicago), Civic Stadium (Portland), and Jack Kent Cook Stadium (Washington, D.C.) complete the host sites. The following is from the Organizing Committee's press release... The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup will feature 16 teams, up from 12 nations in [both the '91 and '95 Women's World Cups]. As host, the United States gains an automatic berth, with the remaining 15 spots contested through qualifying around the word. The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Final Draw will be held in December of 1998 at a site yet to be determined. Tickets are tentatively scheduled to go on sale in March of 1998 to the U.S. Soccer family and later in the Spring and Summer to the public. The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup Organizing Committee has set up a toll free phone number -- 1-888-4-WWC-INFO-- for event information. Fans who call will be added to a priority list so they may purchase tickets prior to general public sales. 1997 Season Awards & HonorsPAC-10 Player of the Week Emily Burt Tracye Lawyer All PAC-10 Team Emily Burt First Team Ronnie Fair First Team Tracye Lawyer First Team Elie Foster Second Team Rita Hermiz Second Team PAC-10 All Academic Emily Burt Elie Foster Team Awards MVP Offensive: Emily Burt MVP Defensive: Ronnie Fair Mickey Price: Tracye Lawyer West Region All-American Emily Burt Second Team Ronnie Fair Second Team Elie Foster Third Team Umbro Senior Classic Rita Hermiz
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