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Oct. 13, 1997
No. 6 Stanford Can Claim Division Title Against Cal
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| MPSF Player-of-the-Week Jamie Clark <!hr> |
Title Run: The sixth-ranked and undefeated Stanford men's soccer team will attempt to capture its first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mountain Division title when it hosts Bay Area rival California on Sunday, October 19 at The Farm. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. The Golden Bears were the last team to defeat the Cardinal (2-1 on Oct. 20, 1996), who are currently riding an amazing 17-game unbeaten streak. Stanford, which is 10-0-2 (2-0-1 MPSF) on the season and one of only two undefeated Division I teams in the nation (top-ranked Indiana is the other), put itself in position for a title match with a successful Northwest road swing this past week. The Cardinal extended their unbeaten streak to 17 games with a 1-0 victory over then-#8-Washington and a 0-0 tie with Oregon State. The winner of the Mountain Division will travel to the winner of the Pacific Division to battle for the MPSF Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. If the season were to end today, No. 2 UCLA would be the Pacific Division champion.
Climbing the Charts: Stanford climbed in the polls for the fourth consecutive week, making large gains in all three national polls. In the NSCAA/Umbro Top 25 poll, Stanford jumped four spots to No. 6. The ranking is the highest ever by a Cardinal squad and the highest-ever by a Bobby Clark-led squad. During Stanford head coach Bobby Clark's nine-year tenure at Dartmouth, the Big Green reached the Top 10 at different times each of his last four years. In 1990, Clark's squad reached as high as No. 7 and finished the year at No. 8. The Cardinal made a larger gain in the Soccer America Top 20 poll, moving up five spots to No. 7. In the Soccer News Top 25, Stanford made the largest gain of all, rising seven places to No. 6. Complete polls follow on the next page.
Last Week: The Cardinal opened a two-game trip through the Northwest with its biggest win of the season, a 1-0 triumph over Washington. The win was just Stanford's second in seven attempts in Seattle, the only other victory coming in 1993 (1-0). Junior midfielder Eric Vandevelde headed in the game-winning goal at the 15:56 mark, taking a cross from sophomore defender Gerard Davis via junior midfielder Simon Elliott. Freshman goalkeeper Adam Zapala (Cupertino, CA/Bellarmine Prep) helped seal the victory with perhaps his biggest save of the season, stopping a Husky penalty kick in the 44th minute. The Stanford defense was spectacular as usual, forcing Washington, which features one of the top forward tandems in the country, to fire the majority of their shots from long range. The Cardinal became the first team this season to shutout the Huskies. Similar to the Washington game, the Stanford defense forced Oregon State to take many of its shots from a distance. The Cardinal and Beavers played evenly on the attack in the first half, with the Cardinal recording four shots on goal to the Beaver's three. In the second half, both teams pushed on the attack but nothing got past the keepers and the game ended in a 0-0 tie.
The Streak: As mentioned before, Stanford is currently riding a 17-game unbeaten streak. The Cardinal have not lost since October 20, 1996, a 2-1 decision to then-second-ranked Cal. The streak includes wins over #8 Washington, Sacramento State, UC Irvine (twice), #16 Wisconsin, Chico State, UC Santa Barbara (twice), UNLV, Cal State Northridge, San Jose State (twice), Santa Clara and Saint Mary's, and has tied #22 Dartmouth and Oregon State. Rankings are at the time of the game.
During "The Streak", Stanford has:
- posted a 15-0-2 record, including 7-0-1 at home
- outscored its opponents 34-5, including 21-2 this season
- recorded 12 shutouts
- established school records for the longest winning streak (14) and the longest unbeaten streak (the current 17 games), and,
- climbed from no national ranking to No. 6 in the country (the highest ranking ever by a Cardinal squad) and No. 2 in the Far West Region.
The Best in the Nation: Freshman goalkeeper Adam Zapala, with his ninth and 10th shutouts of the season against Washington and Oregon State, lowered his goals-against average to a phenomonal 0.16 - the best mark in the nation by a wide margin. In 1,146 minutes of action, Zapala has recorded 28 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) 12 2 1146 0.16
2. Matt Nyman (Dartmouth) 8 4 776 0.46
3. Bill May (Washington) 13 7 1257 0.50
4. Matt Marden (Bradley) 10 5 884 0.51
5. Dani Braga (St. John's) 12 6 1033 0.52
Clark Named MPSF Player-of-the-Week: Junior defender Jamie Clark is quickly making a name for himself as one of the top defenders in the nation. For his efforts this past week against Washington and Oregon State, he was named the MPSF Player-of-the-Week. He became the third Cardinal to be so honored this season, joining junior co-captain A.J. Sauer and Zapala. The accolades are adding up quickly for Clark, who has already earned an all-tournament selection (Stanford-Nike Invitational), Offensive MVP honors (Saint Mary's "Fall Soccer Classic) and a Soccer America Team-of-the-Week (Sept. 21) selection this season. A center midfielder throughout most of his soccer career, including last season, in which he tied for the team lead in points (21; 10g, 1a) with Sauer, Clark was able to move to the backfield with the addition of New Zealand National team member Simon Elliott. The move strengthened what was already a strong position for the Cardinal, adding more creativity in the back. The combined force of Clark, senior co-captain Dan Wytock (San Jose, CA/Bellarmine Prep) and sophomore Gerard Davis has helped to limit opponents to just two goals on the season.
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| A.J. Sauer <!hr> |
Statistically Speaking: Forward A.J. Sauer (Spring, TX/Klein Oak HS) currently leads the team with 12 points on six goals. His point total ranks tied for 14th in the Far West Region and tied for fifth in the MPSF Mountain Division while his six goals place him in a tie for 10th in the region and second in the division. Freshman forward Corey Woolfolk (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer HS), the 1996 Mr. Soccer in the state of Michigan, ranks second on the squad with 10 points on three goals and a team-leading four assists. His 10 points rank him tied for seventh in the division while his four assists place him in a tie for 11th in the region and third in the division. As a team, Stanford leads the entire MPSF in team goalkeeping (0.16) and ranks fifth in team scoring (57 points).
Head Coach Bobby Clark: Clark is in his second year at the helm of the Cardinal program and since taking over, he has guided the Cardinal to a 20-4-2 (.808) mark. In his inaugural season, Clark led Stanford to a 10-4-4 record, 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. In his 10-plus seasons as a head coach, Clark has amassed an impressive 102-46-17 (.670) record. 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 Opponent: California, last year's MPSF Mountain Division champions, enters the week 7-3-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the MPSF. The Golden Bears, who are ranked 21st by Soccer News, will host Chico State before arriving to The Farm. Cal is coming off a split of its Northwest road swing, defeating Oregon State 3-1 before falling to Washington 4-0. The Golden Bear's offensive attack, which ranks second in the Mountain Division, is led by sophomore forwards Justin Bell and John MacDonald. Bell currently leads the team with with 13 points on six goals and one assist. His 13 points and six goals both rank tied for second in the division. MacDonald follows closely behind Bell with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Cal's defense is anchored by goalkeeper Doug Brooks. Brooks received numerous honors for his performance as a freshman last season. In addition to being named to Soccer America's All-Freshman team, he also collected All-MPSF Mountain Division first team and team Rookie-of-the-Year honors. This season, Brooks ranks third in the division with a 1.09 goals-against average. The Golden Bears are coached by Mark Mallon, now in his fifth season at the helm. Last year, Mallon, who owns a career 38-42-8 record, guided Cal to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1986.
1997 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Standings
Mountain Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
Stanford 2 0 1 .833 1-0-0 1-0-1 10 0 2 .917 3-0-1 4-0-1 3-0-0 T1
Washington 2 1 0 .667 1-1-0 1-0-0 9 2 2 .769 3-2-0 5-0-1 1-0-1 W1
California 2 1 0 .667 1-0-0 1-1-0 7 3 1 .682 3-1-1 2-1-0 2-1-0 L1
Oregon State 0 1 1 .250 0-1-1 0-0-0 2 8 2 .250 2-6-2 0-2-0 0-0-0 T1
CS Sacramento 0 3 0 .000 0-1-0 0-2-0 1 11 0 .083 1-5-0 0-5-0 0-1-0 L5
Pacific Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
UCLA 2 0 0 1.000 1-0-0 1-0-0 11 1 0 .917 4-0-0 4-0-0 2-1-0 W8
CS Fullerton 2 0 0 1.000 2-0-0 0-0-0 7 5 0 .583 5-1-0 0-3-0 2-1-0 W3
CS Northridge 1 2 0 .333 1-2-0 0-0-0 2 10 0 .167 2-4-0 0-3-0 0-3-0 L1
UC Irvine 1 2 0 .333 0-0-0 1-2-0 3 5 3 .409 2-0-2 1-5-1 0-0-0 W1
UCSB 1 2 0 .333 0-2-0 1-0-0 2 10 1 .192 0-5-0 2-4-0 0-1-1 L3
Cal Poly SLO 1 2 0 .333 1-0-0 0-2-0 4 8 0 .333 2-1-0 1-7-0 1-0-0 W3