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This Week in Sports: Football upsets Washington State, women’s soccer remains undefeated

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Welcome to “This Week in Sports.” We are Kenneth King and Charis Charitsis from The Daily’s sports section, and we will be walking you through the major games, events and stories from the past week.

Football

Stanford (3-6, 2-5 Pac-12) scored another road upset Saturday, beating Washington State (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) 10-7.

The Cardinal defense was excellent, holding the Cougars to 57 second-half yards and only 4 rushing yards for the game. The Cougars scored their only touchdown in the second quarter but, after the intermission, Stanford tied the score with sophomore quarterback Justin Lamson’s one-yard touchdown run.

Early in the fourth quarter, and with the score still 7-7, the Cougars had the ball deep in Cardinal territory but the Stanford defense rose to the occasion, sacking Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward on consecutive plays. When the ensuing Cougar 43-yard field goal attempt missed, the score remained tied. Sophomore wide receiver Elic Ayomanor then caught a key third-down 30-yard pass to bring the Cardinal to their opponents’ 32-yard line.

Later in the drive, with the Cardinal facing a third and 10 situation, Lamson ran for 9 yards and then converted on fourth-and-1, setting up Karty’s game-winning 31-yard field goal with 5:56 remaining. The Cardinal defense forced a three-and-out on the Cougars’ next possession and engineered a 10-play drive to consume the remaining five minutes of the game. Lamson’s 2-yard rush on 4th-and-1 with 2:36 left sealed the win.

Women’s volleyball

No. 5 Stanford (20-3, 13-1 Pac-12) rebounded from its first Pac-12 loss and recorded another successful week at Maples Pavilion. On Friday, the team took on No. 9 Washington State (19-6, 9-5 Pac-12). Despite losing the first set 21-25, the Cardinal made a strong comeback and won the next three sets 25-21, 25-20, and 25-23.

Junior middle blocker Sami Francis led Stanford, boasting an impressive .476 attack percentage and achieving a season-high 12 kills along with five blocks. Meanwhile, sophomore outside hitter Elia Rubin contributed significantly with a team-high 18 kills, six digs, four blocks, and an ace while fifth year opposite hitter Kendall Kipp tallied 16 kills, a block and an ace. On Sunday, Stanford faced Washington (14-11, 5-9 Pac-12). The Cardinal won the first set 25-23 but the Huskies soon evened the match, taking the second set by the same score. Then, Stanford raised its level and won the next two sets convincingly, 25-11 and 25-19. Francis had another spectacular performance, posting 15 kills and four blocks. Kipp also led the team in kills with 15 and tallied two blocks and five aces. Rubin added 14 kills and two blocks.

Women’s soccer

On Friday’s senior night, No. 3 Stanford (15-0-4, 8-0-3 Pac-12) finished off an undefeated regular season with an impressive 4-0 shutout over visiting California (7-6-6, 4-3-4 Pac-12). Sophomore midfielder Jasmine Aikey led the team in scoring with a hat-trick.

In the 19th minute, she blasted a shot from the top of the box for the first Cardinal goal. Fifth-year midfielder Maya Doms found the net from outside the box in the 31st minute. The score remained 2-0 until after the intermission, when Aikey scored back-to-back goals. In the 58th minute, the Cal defense deflected the ball but Aikey’s rebound shot sent it to the bottom right corner of the net. Two minutes later, freshman midfielder Joelle Jung fed Aikey, who spun to her left and fired a shot from the penalty area, again finding the bottom right corner of the cage. Senior goalkeeper Ryan Campbell made six saves and picked up her eighth clean sheet of the season.

Men’s soccer

No. 15 men’s soccer (8-3-5, 2-2-5 Pac-12) had a mixed week. On Thursday, the team delivered a commanding 5-0 victory over visiting San Diego State (6-6-5, 0-3-6 Pac-12). Redshirt sophomore midfielder Shane de Flores scored an early Cardinal goal. Then, immediately before the 20 minute mark, sophomore midfielder Zach Bohane sent the ball into the back of the net twice within a span of 70 seconds. In the second half, the Cardinal remained in control and scored two more goals, one by sophomore midfielder Fletcher Bank in the 73rd minute and the other by freshman forward Duncan Jarvie four minutes later.

On Sunday, the team suffered its third defeat of the season, falling 3-1 to UCLA (8-3-5, 5-0-4 Pac-12). The Bruins needed the win to maintain their lead in the Pac-12 title race. Although Stanford outshot its opponent 16-5, UCLA was more efficient, with 80% of its shots on goal (4-for-5) as opposed to Stanford’s 31.3% (5-for-16). More importantly, three of UCLA’s four shots ended up in the back of the net. The Bruins scored first in the 12th minute. The Cardinal had several scoring chances in the first half but did not find the equalizer and the score remained 0-1 at the break. Then, UCLA scored twice early in the second half. In the 79th minute, Noah Adnan scored the Cardinal lone goal, but the three-goal deficit proved insurmountable.

Women’s basketball

No. 15 Stanford (0-0, 0-0 Pac-12) rolled past visiting Dominican (0-0, 0-0 PacWest), 126-53 in its season-opener exhibition game, with seven players scoring in double-digits. Head coach Tara VanDerveer distributed game time almost equally among the players. Junior guard Elena Bosgana and junior forward Kiki Iriafen led the team in scoring with 19 points each. Bosgana was 7-for-13 from the field and 2-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc while adding a game-high four assists. Iriafen shot 9-for-12 from the field and collected a game-high 14 rebounds. Stanford shot 46.4% from behind the arc (13-for-28) and 88.2% from the free throw line (15-17) in the 73-point blowout.

Men’s water polo 

In Los Angeles, No.4 Stanford (14-6, 2-3 MPSF) took on No. 3 USC (12-5, 1-4 MPSF) for the third time this season. Senior Jackson Painter scored his ninth hat trick of the season, but the Trojans pulled ahead in the second half, winning 10-6 and ending the Cardinal’s four-game win streak. The game was tied 4-4 at halftime, but USC’s three unanswered third quarter goals changed the momentum. In the fourth quarter, Stanford managed to narrow the margin to 7-5, but the Cardinal got no closer.

Wrestling

Stanford kicked off its season with a resounding 41-0 victory over Duke at the Taube Family Tennis Center, winning all 10 bouts. Sophomore Nico Provo, ranked No. 23 in the 125-pound class, won the first bout on an 8-1 decision. Then, freshman Tyler Knox (133 pounds) and senior Jason Miranda (141 pounds) followed with wins by 21-5 and 15-0 technical falls. Redshirt senior Jaden Abas, ranked No. 10 at 149 pounds, extended Stanford’s lead to 16-0 with a 12-7 decision and sophomore Daniel Cardenas (157 pounds), also ranked No. 10, tallied a 19-4 technical fall win. In their collegiate debuts, freshman Zach Hanson picked up a 10-3 decision at 165 pounds and freshman Lorenzo Norman earned a 20-3 technical fall at 174 pounds. Sophomore Jack Darrah, the 92-kilogram U20 Pan American Champion, won his bout at 184 pounds with a 4-2 decision. Senior Nick Stemmet, ranked No. 13 at 197 pounds, secured a first period 18-3 technical fall victory. Closing the competition, senior heavyweight Peter Ming won a 12-4 decision at 285 pounds.

Sailing

On Oct. 28 and 29, the Cardinal hosted the Top-9 Invite and the PCCSC Fall Women’s Championship regattas, earning decisive victories in each. In the Top-9 Invite, Stanford topped the field with 26 points, 82 better than second-place UC Santa Barbara. The Cardinal finished first in all but one of the A division races. Freshman Reade Decker and sophomore Ellie Harned paved the way in the A boat, leading the team to only nine points. In the B division, freshmen Luke Woodworth and Alice Schmid led the Cardinal in all eight races and the team took first with 17 points.

In the PCCSC Fall Women’s Championship at home, Stanford finished the event with 35 points, 35 points ahead of second place Hawaii with 70. Sophomore Vanessa Lahrkamp and senior Gwendolyn Donahue dominated the A boat competition, winning six of the eight races and finishing second in the other two. In the B division, senior Hannah Freeman and sophomore Isabelle McNabb finished in the top five in all but one race and secured the Cardinal victory with 25 points.

This past weekend, in Charleston, S.C., Stanford finished fifth at the ICSA Match Race Championship, its first national championship regatta of the year. In the round robin portion, the team came in fifth with a 5-4 record, the same record as Charleston and advanced to the Gold Group. The Cardinal took fifth again, with its sole win over Charleston. Stanford’s regatta ended in the quarterfinal round, dropping two of three races against the eventual champion, Brown.

Men’s swimming

On Friday, No. 8 Stanford competed at the Triple Distance Meet, a non-scoring event, hosted by No. 2 Cal. The competition format included six different disciplines contested at three different distances. The Cardinal won 11 of the 20 races. Stanford demonstrated its strength in the distance freestyle and backstroke, with freshman Rex Maurer and junior Aaron Sequeira winning each respectively. Sophomore Rafael Gu and freshman Henry McFadden won two out of the three races for the Cardinal in the butterfly and sprint freestyle.

Women’s golf

The Cardinal women traveled to Atlanta, Ga. to play in the East Lake Cup at the Atlanta Athletic Club. On the opening day, Sadie Englemann won the individual stroke play tournament. The senior from Texas shot a 3-under par 69, two strokes better than a group of four players, including Stanford sophomore Megha Ganne. Englemann surged into the lead with three consecutive birdies as she began the back nine. It was her second collegiate title. Also notable was Paula Martin Sampedro’s T-6 finish in the strong, 20-player field. The freshman from Spain finished in the top 10 in each of the Cardinal’s four fall tournaments.

In the team (match play) competition, Stanford came from behind against Texas A&M, winning three matches to two. Englemann and Sampedro won their match 4&1 and 2&1 respectively. With the matches tied at two, Ganne, playing in the remaining match, mounted a furious comeback, winning the 17th and 18th holes to send the match into a playoff. With some clutch putting, Ganne triumphed in the fourth extra hole, sending the Cardinal into the next day’s championship match against reigning NCAA champion Wake Forest. History almost repeated itself in the title contest. After Sampedro, aided by a 25-foot birdie putt, won her match 1UP, sophomore Kelly Xu birdied the 18th hole to send her match into a playoff, which she won on the third hole. At the same time, Ganne was staging a rally of her own, nearly overcoming a three hole deficit with four to play. Her comeback fell short however, as she dropped her match 1UP, securing the win and the title for Wake Forest.

Men’s golf

On Monday and Tuesday, the Stanford men hosted seven teams in the Cypress Point Classic, played at the Cypress Point Club in Pebble Beach, Calif. In the opening round foursomes (alternate shot) competition, the Cardinal lost three matches to two to fourth-ranked Arizona State, with the lone win recorded by the pair of graduate student Barclay Brown and freshman Ethan Gao, 3&2. In the afternoon four ball (best ball) competition against No. 18 Illinois, the Cardinal won via a tiebreaker. Junior Karl Villips and freshman Kush Arora won their match 4&2 and sophomore Sean-Karl Dobson and senior Jake Beber-Frankel battled their Illini opponents to a tie, but Stanford prevailed based on most holes won. In the next day’s singles competition, the Cardinal fell 5 to 1 to Auburn, taking sixth place. Beber-Frankel recorded the lone match victory, 1UP, after he took the lead on the 13th hole, which he never relinquished. No. 11 Texas bested Arizona State in the championship match.

Fencing

On Friday and Saturday, No. 14 Stanford competed in the season-opening Western Invitational at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. The 11-team women’s field featured five top-five teams and seven ranked teams altogether. The team had a tough schedule, facing No. 2 Notre Dame and then No. 3 Columbia. Despite individual wins by senior Joy Yun at saber and sophomore Crystal Qian at foil, the team lost both battles, 9-18 and 7-22 respectively. However, the Cardinal rebounded and topped North Carolina 16-11 and Brandeis 19-8. The day ended with a 8-19 loss against No. 4 Harvard.

The next day, the team was more successful. Although Stanford lost to Ohio State 11-16, it won its remaining matches. First, the Cardinal rolled past the University of the Incarnate Word 18-9, and then prevailed against UCSD 15-12. Next, the team upset No. 5 Northwestern 18-9 and closed out the tournament with a victory 17-10 over Air Force. Despite Friday’s slow start, the men’s team came back strong the next day and closed the tournament on a three-match winning streak, including a 15-12 upset against No. 10 UCSD. Stanford’s day was highlighted by sophomore Luke Park’s performance at foil. 

Women’s tennis

On Sunday, junior Connie Ma won the consolation singles title at the ITA National Fall Championships. Ma, ranked No. 26 in singles, lost her opener on Wednesday to Michigan’s No. 41 Julia Fliegner, 6-2, 6-3. However, she posted four consecutive victories in the consolation draw. First, she beat Oklahoma’s No. 51 Dana Guzman, 6-3, 6-2. The day after, she won the consolation quarterfinals battle against Florida’s Emily De Oliveira, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. In Saturday’s semifinal she lost the first set 4-6 to Utah’s Marcela Lopez, but then won the next two by scores of 6-1, 6-3. In the final against Cal’s No. 47 Jessica Alsola, Ma started slowly again as she dropped the first set 4-6. However, as in the semifinal, she elevated her game and cruised to victory, winning the last two sets 6-2, 6-2.

Men’s tennis

Sophomore Samir Banerjee, ranked No. 29 in the nation, represented the Cardinal at the ITA Fall National Championship in San Diego where he reached the round of 16. Banerjee beat Wake Forest’s Dhakshineswar Suresh 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round last Wednesday before falling 6-4, 6-0 to TCU’s No. 82 Pedro Vives the next day.

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