No. 6 Stanford Falters Again in Loss to Louisville

On the bright side, Stanford women's soccer is expecting to get five players back after a month-long absence before their match against No. 3 Wake Forest, with goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, defender Lizzie Boamah and midfielder Y-Lan Nguyen returning from the U.S., while goalkeeper Kaiya Jota and forward Eleanor Klinger will return after representing England. 

Without those key players, the Cardinal have faced some adversity over the past two matches, losing 5-0 to No. 2 Duke on the road, then being on the wrong end of another clean sheet at home, dropping Thursday's match to the Cardinals 1-0. The first loss dropped Stanford from its No. 1 ranking. This second loss may push them down further. 

Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said that there are no excuses, despite missing those key players, and that the program should still be able to win games without those players. 

"We need to continue to work hard with or without them," Ratcliffe said after the match.

Karina Peat scored the only goal of the match in the 4th minute, leaving Stanford trying to claw its way back the rest of regulation. It was a Stanford mistake at midfield that set up that Louisville game-winner off her left foot. 

That was Louisville's only shot on net all game. They finished with eight shots total, with Stanford firing 19 of their own, with five on net. 

Sophomore Brooke Holden headed a ball off the crossbar in the 75th minute, and in the final 10 minutes, Stanford had some terrific chances. Ella Kral hit the post in the 80th minute, then chipped one too high over the crossbar with the goaltender out of position.

This loss wasn't a decisive one for Stanford, but those two missed opportunities loomed large in such a tight contest. 

"Disappointing loss for the team," Ratcliffe said after the match. "They scored early on us and we just couldn't get the ball over the line. We hit the post a few times, but were not able to get the ball across the line." 

He also mentioned that despite outshooting Louisville, Stanford's execution on finishing opportunities just wasn't there. A couple of shots that hit the post or the crossbar are just how the ball bounces at times, but the Kral shot over the crossbar as time was winding down seemed like a clearer example of the execution coach Ratcliffe mentioned. 

The philosophy moving forward as players return from the U-20 Women's World Cup is that the best players will play. That means a boost in net from Birkel — one of the best goaltenders in the ACC. That means a boost on defense with Boamah. It also means the return of Nguyen, who was ranked as one of the best players in women's college soccer heading into the season.