(Image Credit: Michael Rincon)
Stanford had what could only be described as an underwhelming week last week in falling to a loss to Pepperdine and defeating UC Santa Barbara 1-0 with a late winner, and things don’t stand to get any easier this week as the Cardinal take on a Santa Clara side that has already knocked off the Aussie-laden UCLA this season. The Cardinal were perhaps guilty of trying to walk the ball in on a few occasions against teams that stacked the defensive line, but Beattie Goad, among others, came up with some moments that could have ended in goals, including one scintillating cross from the Aussie senior that was headed onto the crossbar against Pepperdine. Stanford may actually benefit from playing a team like Santa Clara, who will be far more attack-minded than either of last week’s opponents, potentially opening up the pitch for the Cardinal attack, with Beattie Goad hopefully one of the beneficiaries as the senior looks to continue an outstanding senior season.
Whilst Stanford are playing a side that has already beaten UCLA, the Bruins themselves will travel to Hawaii face a Pepperdine side that upset Stanford just a week ago. Prior to that result, this contest would have appeared to be a breeze for the Bruins, but the Waves changed that line of thinking with their win over Stanford. UCLA will still come in as favourites, particularly having knocked off defending national champions Florida State and nationally ranked Wisconsin already this season, and with Teagan Micah having already picked up four clean sheets this year, sneaking a one-goal victory will be an incredibly difficult task for the Waves. Rachel Lowe also returned to the UCLA rotation last week, and will surely be hoping to see extended minutes as the Bruins attempt to put Pepperdine to the sword.
The Bruins will then face host side Hawaii in a game featuring no less than five Australians across the playing and coaching staff of both sides. Hawaii midfielder Eliza Ammendolia was a teammate of both Teagan Micah and Rachel Lowe at Western Sydney Wanderers, and with Kiri Dale also on the Rainbow Wahine roster and former Washington State and Matildas defender Rachael Doyle on the Hawaii coaching staff, there will be plenty of reasons for Aussie fans to catch Monday morning’s game.
Ashleigh Lefevre has built on last season’s performances to emerge as an integral part of Illinois’ starting lineup in 2019, and with the Illini kicking off conference play this week against in-state rivals Northwestern, the sophomore finds herself tasked with helping her team get off to a good start against a team picked to finish just one spot below them in the Big Ten. This really is the kind of game Illinois need to win if they are to atone for last year’s controversial omission from the NCAA Tournament, with a middling conference schedule in 2018 perhaps the team’s downfall. However, with a 6-1 record to this point, Illinois are looking in good form, as is Lefevre.
Sandra Hill had seen only limited minutes coming into last week’s pair of games, but the Grand Canyon fullback gained her first start of the season against North Dakota, and played 185 of 200 minutes across two games to re-establish herself as a member of the Antelopes’ lineup. This week sees Grand Canyon celebrate Senior Day against Cal State Northridge, and whilst Hill may not be a senior, both she and the remainder of the Antelopes lineup will be hoping to turn around their form to celebrate the occasion with the team’s second win of the season. It won’t be easy though, particularly against a Cal State Northridge side that has posted five wins in their eight games to this point. But with Hill back to shore up the side, things may just be turning around for Grand Canyon as they prepare to move into conference play.
Full Schedule
Alabama State (Sophie Bui)
This week: v North Alabama – 9am, Saturday September 21; @ Mercer – 4am, Monday September 23
Chicago State (Sarah Clark)
This week: @ Oral Roberts – 10am, Saturday September 21; @ Tulsa – 5am, Monday September 23
East Tennessee State (D’arne Boato)
This week: v Hampton – 7am, Thursday September 19
Fairleigh Dickinson (Sam Roff)
This week: @ Long Island – 6am, Thursday September 19; @ West Virginia – 9am, Saturday September 21
Grand Canyon (Sandra Hill)
This week: v CSU Northridge – 6am, Monday September 23
Hawaii (Eliza Ammendolia, Kiri Dale)
This week: v Washington State – 3pm, Friday September 20; v UCLA – 11:30am, Monday September 23
Hofstra (Monique Iannella, Grace Watson Carr)
This week: @ Penn – 8am, Saturday September 21
Illinois (Ashleigh Lefevre)
This week: v Northwestern – 10am, Saturday September 21
La Salle (Claudia Jenkins, Alyssa Van Heurck)
This week: v George Washington – 3am, Monday September 23
LSU (Caitlin Cantrill)
This week: v Florida – 10am, Friday September 20; v James Madison – 4am, Monday September 23
Marshall (Laura Farrelly)
This week: @ Florida Atlantic – 9am, Friday September 20; @ Florida Gulf Coast – 3am, Monday September 23
Mississippi (Aimee Medwin)
This week: v Missouri – 10am, Saturday September 21
Nicholls State (Tessa Calabria, Kristy Helmers, Shauni Reid)
This week: @ Lamar – 10am, Saturday September 21
North Dakota State (Eden Taylor-Wineera)
This week: @ Eastern Washington – 9am, Saturday September 21
Old Dominion (Gaby Bentley)
This week: @ North Texas – 10am, Saturday September 21
Rhode Island (Teresa Morrissey)
This week: @ Dartmouth – 9am, Friday September 20; v Saint Louis – 3am, Monday September 23
Southeast Missouri State (Siena Senatore)
This week: v Belmont – 9:30am, Saturday September 21; v Eastern Illinois – 5am, Monday September 23
Stanford (Beattie Goad)
This week: @ Santa Clara – 12pm, Monday September 23
Texas Tech (Demi Koulizakis)
This week: @ South Florida – 9am, Sunday September 22
UCLA (Rachel Lowe, Teagan Micah)
This week: v Pepperdine – 12:30pm, Friday September 20; @ Hawaii – 11:30am, Monday September 23
UMBC (Abi Jordan, Teal Kilbride)
This week: v George Washington – 9am, Friday September 20; v New Hampshire – 4am, Monday September 23
Western Carolina (Kate Swartwout)
This week: v UNC Asheville – 5:30am, Thursday September 19; v North Florida – 3am, Monday September 23
Wyoming (Indianna Asimus)
This week: v South Dakota – 11am, Friday September 20
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