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Sept. 15, 1997
Stanford Streaks Into Top 25
Cardinal Extend Streak to a Nation-Best Nine Games
National Recognition: Bolstered by a 3-0-0 start and an eight-game winning streak, the Stanford men's soccer team cracked the NSCAA/Umbro Top 25 Poll at #15 last week. The NSCAA/Umbro Top 25 is voted on by representatives of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Cardinal since extended their streak to nine games, the longest in the nation, with a 1-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara.
This Week: Stanford (4-0-0) returns to The Farm for their 1997 home opener on Monday, September 15 against Chico State at 5:00 p.m. It will be the Cardinal's first regular season game at their new facility, "New Maloney Field". The Cardinal will then travel to the East Bay for a pair of games in the Saint Mary's Tournament. Stanford will open the tourney against Wisconsin on Friday, September 19 at 2:00 p.m. and close with UC Irvine on Sunday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m.
The Streak: The Cardinal's current nine-game win streak matches the win streak that bridged the 1980 and '81 squads for the team record. Below are the top streaks in Stanford's recorded history (1973-Present):
Year Streak Final Record
1. 1996-97 9 -
2. 1980-81 9 -
3. 1978 7 16-6
4. 1988 6 12-9-1
1979 6 14-5-2
1977 6 10-8-2
The streak includes wins over San Jose State (twice), UC Santa Barbara (twice), UC Irvine, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, Cal State Northridge and UNLV. Stanford has outscored its opponents 21-4 during the span, posting five shutouts.
Dominating Defense: The Cardinal defense has stifled opponents thus far. After allowing San Jose State nine shots on goal (one finding the back of the net in the 18th minute of the contest) in the first half of the season opener, the defense allowed just 14 shots on goal over the next seven halves, none of which made it past goalkeeper Adam Zapala. The freshman, who hails from nearby Cupertino, Calif., won the starting job just prior to the start of the season and has proved a wise choice. In his first four games at the collegiate level, Zapala has logged three shutouts, a meager 0.25 goals against average and 12 saves. Zapala's 0.25 GAA ranks second in the Far West Region and in the top eight nationally.
The Opponents: The meeting with Chico State will mark just the fourth-ever between the two schools and the first since 1975. The Wildcats, which lead the series 2-1, enter the match 0-1-0. The Wildcats, who opened the season with a narrow 1-0 loss to Oregon State in Corvallis, are in the midst of an eight-game road swing to open the season. The meeting with Wisconsin in the opening game of the Saint Mary's Tournament will be the first-ever between the two teams. The Badgers (3-2), embarking on their first road trip of the season, are led by preseason first team All-Big Ten selections (Soccer America) Todd Wilson (Sr., GK) and Wes Hart (So., MF). Wilson led the Big Ten in shutouts in '96 with 10.5 and ranked second with a 0.84 goals-against average. This season, Wilson has posted one shutout, 14 saves and a 1.33 GAA. Hart became Wisconsin's first rookie to earn all-conference accolades last season when he was named to the Big Ten second team. Hart currently ranks fourth on the squad with four points (1 goal, 2 assists). UC Irvine enters the tournament 1-1-2 on the year and will face Saint Mary's prior to its meeting with the Cardinal.
Head Coach Bobby Clark: Clark is in his second year at the helm of the Cardinal program. In his inaugural season, Clark led Stanford to a 10-4-4 mark, the Cardinal's first winning season since 1992. For his efforts, he was named the MPSF's Mountain Division Co-Coach-of-the-Year. In 10-plus years as a collegiate head coach (nine at Dartmouth College), Clark has posted an impressive 96-46-17 record and is just four wins shy of 100 career victories. Prior to arriving at The Farm, Clark spent two years as head coach of the New Zealand National team. In his nine seasons as head coach at Dartmouth College, he led the Big Green to three Ivy League titles and two NCAA quarterfinal appearances. He was twice named NCAA Region I Coach-of-the-Year. Before entering the coaching ranks, Clark was a professional player in Scotland from 1962-82 and competed on three (1970, '74 and '78) of Scotland's World Cup teams.
NSCAA/Umbro Division I Top 25 PollSeptember 8, 1997
Rank School Record Points 1. Indiana 3-0-0 410 2. Florida Interntl. 3-0-1 408 3. Maryland 4-0-0 407 4. UCLA 3-0-0 385 5. Creighton 3-0-1 333 6. St. John's 2-0-1 332 7. James Madison 4-0-0 267 8. Boston University 3-0-0 265 9. Washington 2-0-1 255 10. Penn State 2-0-1 242 11. Duke 3-0-1 238 12. SMU 1-1-0 181 13. American 2-1-1 159 14. Saint Louis 2-1-1 133 15. Stanford 3-0-0 97 16. Rutgers 1-2-0 82 17. UNC Greensboro 2-1-0 76 18. Virginia 1-1-1 70 19. Notre Dame 1-1-1 59 20. Bowling Green 3-1-0 38 21. Cornell 0-0-0 28 22. Richmond 2-0-1 26 23. Connecticut 1-1-1 24 24. Univ. San Diego 3-0-0 16 25T. Rhode Island 1-1-0 11 25T. Tulsa 3-1-0 11 1997 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Standings
Mountain Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
Washington 1 0 0 1.000 0-0-0 1-0-0 3 0 2 .800 0-0-0 2-0-1 1-0-1 W1
Stanford 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 4 0 0 1.000 0-0-0 3-0-0 1-0-0 W4
California 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 4 0 1 .900 2-0-1 0-0-0 2-0-0 W3
Oregon State 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 2 3 1 .417 2-1-1 0-2-0 0-0-0 L1
CS Sacramento 0 1 0 .000 0-1-0 0-0-0 0 6 0 .000 0-3-0 0-0-0 0-0-0 L6
Pacific Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
Cal State Fullerton 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 4 1 0 .800 2-1-0 0-0-0 2-0-0 W4
UCLA 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 4 1 0 .800 1-0-0 1-0-0 2-1-0 W1
UC Irvine 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 1 1 2 .500 1-0-1 0-1-1 0-0-0 L1
Cal State Northridge 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 1 4 0 .200 1-1-0 0-1-0 0-2-0 L3
UC Santa Barbara 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 1 4 0 .500 0-1-0 1-3-0 0-0-0 L3
Cal Poly SLO 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 1 4 0 .333 1-0-0 0-4-0 0-0-0 L2