Nov. 18, 2001

Box Score

Palo Alto, CA - The Saint Mary's women's soccer team (15-3-2) lost to the Stanford Cardinal 3-1 in the second round of the NCAA College Cup Tournament. The Gaels allowed two goals in the first ten minutes which proved to be too big a deficit to rebound from.

"The game was over in the first ten minutes, it was just a poor start," commented Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe. "You can't start a game against a team like Stanford with a bad start."

Stanford immediately jumped out to a 1-0 lead as Marcia Wallis scored at the 1:08 minute mark due to a Becky Meyer's missed shot. The Gaels didn't seem to play to their potential as the Cardinal picked a part the SMC defense. The Cardinal scored again just nine minutes later to give them a 2-0 comfortable lead. It was Wallis again who took a crisp pass from Marcie Ward. The Gaels continued to fight even though they found themselves in a position they hadn't experienced since the first game of the season against Washington State. With just 15 minutes left in the first half the Gaels cut the lead in half. Lucianne Crenshaw cut through the Cardinal defense to find freshman Sarah Rae Takekawa. Takekawa beat the final Stanford defender before she scored her sixth goal of the season at the 30:04 minute mark. The Gaels had some chances late in the half but were unable to score, which kept the score 2-1 at the end of the first half. Stanford outshot the Gaels 7-4 in the first.

The Gaels came out in the second half dominating but were still unable to score. Momentum continued to shift between each team in the second half but neither team connected on opportunities. At the 86:37 minute mark Stanford's Kelsey Carlson scored on an open opportunity to put the game out of the Gaels reach. Carlson was wide open due to the Gaels shifting their right defender forward to create more offensive opportunities in hope to tie the score.

"We didn't come out as hard as we should have," summed up by Katie Frattone.

The Gaels finish a remarkable season with a 15-3-2 record. They will definitely be a favorite to return to the NCAA Tournament as they lose only one starter, midfielder Katie Sticinski. Sticinski was a tremendous leader for the Gaels, her heart and leadership will be missed but not forgotten.