Stanford Women’s Soccer Advances to College World Cup

Stanford women’s soccer is headed to the College World Cup, or in basketball terms, has clinched a spot in the Final Four. Stanford defeated Notre Dame at home on Friday, 2-0, behind goals from Shae Harvey (24:32) and Andrea Kitahata (49:12) to secure the win, and a chance to play for the national championship.

To get to the title game, first the Cardinal will have to take on Wake Forest at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina on Saturday, December 6. On the other side of the bracket will be No. 7 seed Virginia Tech taking the second seeded North Carolina squad. Stanford came in as a three seed, while Wake Forest is a No. 2.

Stanford has already knocked out the No. 2 team on their side of the bracket, Arkansas, in a 1-1 tie that went to penalty kicks. They won 4-2 on PKs. The Cardinal have also knocked out the team that knocked out the No. 1 seed in their bracket, Notre Dame, who had defeated Mississippi State.

Notre Dame had also defeated Stanford at the end of the regular season, 3-0, when the Cardinal visited South Bend on October 20.

They have also faced Wake Forest already this season, and met the same fate in that one, a 1-0 defeat on the road in Winston-Salem, NC. The only team left that Stanford has yet to face is Virginia Tech, having beaten North Carolina at home 1-0 on October 13.

In terms of how these teams were ranked nationally coming into the tournament (as of October 27), Stanford, at No. 14 overall, is the lowest-ranked team still remaining. That said, they just defeated the No. 13 overall team in Notre Dame, and also took down No.5 Arkansas just last week. This team can play with anybody.

That will be helpful too, because their biggest test could come next Friday when they take on Wake Forest, who were ranked No. 3 overall coming into the tournament, leaving them as the highest-ranked program still in the running. Virginia Tech (12) and North Carolina (8) are right in between where Stanford and Wake Forest are positioned.

The time for Friday’s matchup has not been announced just yet, but the game will be broadvast on ESPNU.