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Oct. 7, 1997
No.10 Stanford Begins Run For Division Title
Title Run: The 10th-ranked and undefeated Stanford men's soccer team resumes Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play this week as it travels north to face Mountain Division rivals Washington and Oregon State, beginning a three-game stretch which will decide the division title. The Cardinal, currently 9-0-1 on the season and riding a 15-game unbeaten streak, will battle the eighth-ranked Huskies on Friday, October 10 at 1:00 p.m. on the Husky Soccer Field. The Cardinal will then head to Corvallis for a 1:00 p.m. clash with Oregon State on Sunday, October 12. Stanford completes its conference season a week later against Bay Area rival California. Stanford, Washington and California all stand at 1-0 in conference play while Oregon State will play its first conference game this Friday against California.
Climbing the Charts: Stanford climbed in the polls for the third consecutive week, rising one notch in the NSCAA/Umbro Top 25 poll to #10. The Top 10 ranking is believed to be the highest in school history. The Cardinal held steady in the Soccer America Top 20 poll at #12. Stanford is one of only two teams in either poll without a loss. The other is top-ranked Indiana (11-0-0).
Last Week: The nation's longest winning streak came to an end in the championship match of the Nike Invitational as Stanford battled then-#22 Dartmouth to a double-overtime 0-0 tie. However, Stanford still claimed its third tournament title of the season in as many tries with a 3-1 goal differential advantage over Dartmouth. The Cardinal won both the Saint Mary's Fall Soccer Classic and the UNLV/Coors Light Classic earlier this season. In the tournament opener, Stanford downed Harvard 3-0, putting the Crimson away early with all three goals coming in the first half. Midfielder Erik Morrison (Carmichael, CA/Jesuit HS) put the Cardinal on the board first with his second goal of the season, an unassisted shot into the upper left corner of the goal at the 13:46 mark. Forward A.J. Sauer (Spring, TX/Klein Oak HS) took a cross from midfielder Aaron Jones and headed it into the near post at 28:52 to put the Cardinal up 2-0. Forward Corey Woolfolk (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer HS) capped the scoring less than three minutes later on a cross from midfielder Simon Elliott.
The Streak: While the nation's longest win streak did come to an end, the unbeaten streak remains intact - now 15 games. The Cardinal have not lost since October 20, 1996, a 2-1 decision to then-second-ranked Cal. The streak includes wins over Sacramento State, UC Irvine (twice), Wisconsin, Chico State, UC Santa Barbara (twice), UNLV, Cal State Northridge, San Jose State (twice), Santa Clara and Saint Mary's, and a tie with Dartmouth. Stanford has outscored its opponents 33-5 during the span, posting 10 shutouts.
Number One in the Country: Freshman goalkeeper Adam Zapala (Cupertino, CA/Bellarmine Prep), with his seventh and eighth shutouts of the season against Harvard and Dartmouth, lowered his goals-against average to a phenomonal 0.19 - the best mark in the country. In 936 minutes of action, Zapala has recorded 25 saves and has allowed just two goals. Below are the top five goalies in the nation in GAA.
Rk. Name (School) Games GA Min. GAA
1. Adam Zapala (Stanford) 10 2 936 0.19
2. Dan Alexander (N.C. State) 4 1 375 0.24
3. Dani Braga (St. John's) 10 4 847 0.43
4. T.J. Hanning (Indiana) 8 3 629 0.43
5. Bill May (Washington) 11 6 1077 0.50
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. Clark began his collegiate coaching career at Dartmouth in 1985 and before leaving in 1994, he directed the Big Green program to three Ivy League titles, two NCAA Tournament quarterfinal appearances and eight winning seasons in nine years. He was twice named NCAA Region I Coach-of-the-Year. Before entering the coaching ranks, Clark was a prof professional player in Scotland from 1962-82 and competed on three (1970, '74 and '78) of Scotland's World Cup campaigns.
The Opponents: Washington enters the game 8-1-2, the lone loss coming against #21 Marquette. The Huskies are led by 1996 MPSF Mountain Division Player-of-the-Year Jason Boyce. The senior forward currently ranks eighth in the country with 12 goals. Washington holds a 12-6 series advantage over Stanford, including 5-1 at home. Oregon State enters the week 2-7-1 and in the midst of a five-game losing streak. Junior midfielder Freddy Kummernes leads the squad with eight points (3g, 2a). Stanford leads the series 6-1-1. The teams have split the two contests in Corvallis.
1997 Schedule/Results
Date Opponent Time/Score
Sept. 2 at San Jose State W, 2-1
UNLV/COORS LIGHT CLASSIC
Sept. 5 Cal State Northridge W, 4-0
Sept. 8 UNLV W, 1-0
Sept. 13 at UC Santa Barbara W, 1-0
Sept. 15 CHICO STATE W, 3-1
ST. MARY'S TOURNAMENT
Sept. 19 #16 Wisconsin W, 2-0
Sept. 21 UC Irvine W, 3-0
Sept. 26 SACRAMENTO ST.* W, 1-0 (ot)
STANFORD/NIKE INVITATIONAL
Oct. 3 HARVARD W, 3-0
Oct. 5 #22 DARTMOUTH T, 0-0 (2 OT)
Oct. 10 at Washington* 1:00 p.m.
Oct. 12 at Oregon State* 1:00 p.m.
Oct. 19 CALIFORNIA* 2:00 p.m.
Oct. 23 ST. MARY'S 4:00 p.m.
Oct. 26 CAL POLY SLO 2:00 p.m.
CAL/ROLLING THUNDER CLASSIC
Oct. 31 Indiana (at USF) 5:00 p.m.
Nov. 2 USF (at Cal) 1:00 p.m.
Nov. 9 at Santa Clara 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 16 MPSF Championship
(at Southern Champion) TBA
Home Games in CAPS
Rankings at the time of the game
* Denotes MPSF Game
NSCAA/UMBRO DIVISION I TOP 25 POLL
October 6, 1997
RK School Record Points
1. Indiana 11-0-0 760
2. UCLA 9-1-0 700
3. Florida International 9-2-1 647
4. Maryland 7-1-1 605
5. St. John's 9-1-1 599
6. Southern Methodist 7-1-0 597
7. Duke 8-2-0 554
8. Washington 8-1-2 510
9. North Carolina State 7-1-0 426
10. Stanford 9-0-1 351
11. American 6-2-2 335
12. Dartmouth 4-1-2 315
13. Virginia 7-2-2 305
14. Creighton 6-3-1 275
15. South Carolina 6-1-1 227
16. Pittsburgh 5-1-4 156
17. Virginia Commonwealth 9-1-1 136
18. Notre Dame 7-3-2 106
19. Portland 7-2-1 105
20. William & Mary 7-2-0 62
21. Marquette 7-2-1 35
22. Massachussetts 7-2-1 31
23. Saint Louis 6-3-3 23
24. James Madison 8-2-0 20
25. Georgia Southern 9-1-1 18
SOCCER AMERICA TOP 20 POLL
October 6, 1997
RK School Record
1. Indiana 11-0-0
2. Southern Methodist 7-1-0
3. UCLA 9-1-0
4. North Carolina State 7-1-0
5. Florida International 9-2-1
6. South Carolina 6-1-1
7. Maryland 7-1-1
8. St. John's 9-1-1
9. Duke 8-2-0
10. Washington 8-1-2
11. Virginia 7-2-2
12. Stanford 9-0-1
13. American 6-2-2
14. Creighton 6-3-1
15. Portland 7-2-1
16. California 6-2-1
17. Marquette 7-2-1
18. Dartmouth 4-1-2
19. Georgia Southern 9-1-1
20. Furman 7-2-0
1997 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC SPORTS FEDERATION STANDINGS
Mountain Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
Stanford 1 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 0-0-0 9 0 1 .950 3-0-1 3-0-0 3-0-0 T1
Washington 1 0 0 1.000 0-0-0 1-0-0 8 1 2 .818 2-1-0 5-0-1 1-0-1 W3
California 1 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 0-0-0 6 2 1 .722 3-1-1 1-0-0 2-1-0 W1
Oregon State 0 0 0 .000 0-0-0 0-0-0 2 7 1 .250 2-5-1 0-2-0 0-0-0 L5
CS Sacramento 0 3 0 .000 0-1-0 0-2-0 1 10 0 .091 1-5-0 0-4-0 0-1-0 L4
Pacific Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
UCLA 1 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 0-0-0 9 1 0 .900 4-0-0 3-0-0 2-1-0 W6
Cal State Fullerton 1 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 0-0-0 6 5 0 .545 4-1-0 0-3-0 2-1-0 W2
UC Santa Barbara 1 0 0 1.000 0-0-0 1-0-0 2 8 1 .227 0-3-0 2-4-0 0-1-1 L1
Cal State Northridge1 1 0 .500 1-1-0 0-0-0 2 9 0 .182 2-3-0 0-3-0 0-3-0 W1
UC Irvine 0 1 0 .000 0-0-0 0-1-0 2 4 3 .389 2-0-2 0-4-1 0-0-0 L1
Cal Poly SLO 0 2 0 .000 0-0-0 0-2-0 3 8 0 .273 1-1-0 1-7-0 1-0-0 L3