Recap: (1) Stanford Women’s Soccer dominates (5) BYU to reach Elite Eight
On Monday, (1) Stanford women’s soccer defeated (5) BYU 6-0 to reach in the Sweet Sixteen (third round) of the NCAA tournament. Eleanor Klinger and Jasmine Aikey each had a brace (two goals) in the match for the Cardinal while Andrea Kitahata and Charlotte Kohler also scored. Caroline Birkel was the winning goalkeeper for the Cardinal, playing the full 90 minutes while getting two saves. Chelsea Peterson was the losing goalkeeper for the Cougars, giving up six goals while getting one save in the full 90 minutes. Stanford advances to the regional final (Elite Eight) of the NCAA tournament on Friday against (2) Michigan State.
BOX SCORE: BYU at Stanford-Monday, November 24th
“Yeah, incredible victory,” Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said after the match. “Started fast, finished fast. I thought it was a complete 90 minute performance and couldn’t be more proud of each and every one of our student athletes.”
This match was one-way traffic from the jump as Aikey scored at the 7:05 mark, finding the top right of the goal off her right foot thanks to an assist from Kohler and Shae Harvey. Then, at 10:19, Kitahata found the top right of the goal off the right foot thanks to an assist from Klinger. That made it a 2-0 lead for the Cardinal.
“They were phenomenal,” Ratcliffe said of Aikey and Klinger. “Jazzy’s been so hot right now, how she’s playing. She’s scoring goals, getting assists, fantastic play. And then Eleanor’s energy and her ability to score is remarkable, too. So yeah, they were really potent the two of them and then ‘Dre as well. ‘Dre Kitahata. So it was kind of all three front runners and Charlotte and the mids, all of them combining to make it a strong performance for us.”
Not longer after that, Aikey scored her second goal of the match at 18:36 off an assist from Elise Evans as she found the top right of the goal off her right foot. That made it a 3-0 lead for the Cardinal within the first 20 minutes of the match.
Before halftime, at 34:46, Klinger found the top left of the goal off an assist from Allie Montoya. It was now a 4-0 lead for the Cardinal, which they would take into halftime. Stanford was outshooting BYU 10-5 despite only having a 1-0 advantage in corner kicks.
In the second half, it was more dominance from the Cardinal. At 54:04, Kohler found the top left of the goal off an assist from Klinger to make it 5-0 and then at 57:29, Klinger found the bottom left of the goal off an assist from Kitahata to make it 6-0. Stanford was pouring it on as BYU had no answer.
“Both of them were off of beautiful crosses,” Klinger said of her goals. “First one, I look up, I see Allie, kind of around the top of the box and she lofts it perfectly to the back post and I just go up for it. Really lucky to make contact on that one. And then the second one was just a great team goal overall. I think we started it with Smitty on the left, on the right side and then it built up all the way around to Dre and she just played me a great ball to the back post and she’s always playing me great balls to the back post, so I was happy to finish that one as well.”
From there, 6-0 would be the final score as BYU was not able to even get one goal. Stanford outshot BYU 20-7 for the match, putting on an offensive clinic again. It was yet another ruthlessly dominating performance by the Cardinal.
“Yeah, I think it was just the energy of the team and the attitude of the team that they want to prove something,” Ratcliffe said of their relentlessness. “And the players that came in off the bench, I thought added great value and kept the tempo high and created opportunities and goals for us, too.”
“I mean coming into this game, we kind of had two goals,” Klinger said. “Shut out and to be relentless on the attack and I think we stuck to that all the way through and it showed…No, I mean, I think we have a lot of respect for our opponents and that just shows in us giving everything we have all 90 minutes.”
For Stanford, this was a great win. BYU is a quality opponent who has given them trouble over the years. To smoke BYU to this degree has to feel good. Especially in front of the home crowd. Coming off a match in which they allowed Alabama to score three times, Stanford wanted to send a message with the shutout and they did it emphatically against the Cougars.
“Yeah, I think we were disappointed in the last game that we had conceded some goals,” Ratcliffe said. “So a lot of it’s a mentality and they did a really good job. The back four, the whole team, I think defending from the front back was very strong and they were resilient. And then we kept scoring, too. Which was incredible…Birkel’s been amazing all season. So happy for her to get a shutout. She deserves a shutout with how well she plays and how well she organizes the defense. So yeah, she’s phenomenal.”
“Yeah, I think a big thing we talked about before the game was their countermeasures behind the ball,” Birkel said of getting the shutout. “I think that a lot of times teams want to try to score in transition. And so a big thing that we made sure that we had correct was having the right amount of players behind the ball and making sure that we just stopped any kind of attack…No, clean sheets are the best thing for us. But it’s a whole team effort in our back line. But no, it definitely takes, you take a lot of pride in and just like coming up big for the team and just making sure that nothing gets through.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against (2) Michigan State on Friday, November 28th in the Elite Eight (quarterfinals). That will be at 2:00 PM PT on ESPN+.
“Yeah, I mean, I hope it’s a statement that this team’s for real,” Ratcliffe said looking ahead. “And they want to win and they want to compete at the highest level and that’s our goal is to win a national championship, so we got to keep pushing. We have a few more games, we gotta take care of business on Friday and then hopefully we can advance and get an opportunity to keep going.”
“Oh, Cagan is the best,” Birkel said of being at home. “I mean, all these fans that come out, it’s amazing. Like, we just pack this stadium every game and like, the loyalty that like even these young girls are coming out and watching us play and it’s amazing and they know our names and they ask for autographs after and it’s just such a great feeling to know that like, you have such a supportive community around you, especially when you play at Cagan and I don’t think anyone wants to play at Cagan. It is not a fun place to play if you’re not Stanford.”
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406
Email: [email protected]
