Cardinal Roundup: Women’s golf has historic weekend, men’s water polo beats Cal

Stanford athletics was dominant this week. Women’s soccer won back-to-back games, as did women’s volleyball. Women’s golf obliterated the competition in their home tournament, men’s water polo beat No. 2 Cal and football knocked off Florida State in their reunion homecoming weekend contest.

Women’s golf

The women’s golf team was dominant on their home course finishing first place out of 19 teams. As a team Stanford finished 35 strokes under par, a full 19 strokes better than the second place Oregon Ducks. 35 under par is a new team record for the women on their home course as this weekend’s performance broke the previous record by seven strokes. Senior Megha Ganne took home the individual title shooting 10 under par through her three rounds. Ganne had her best round on Sunday to close out the tournament, carding a score of five under par. Stanford will next head to Hawaii for the Nanea Invitational that will take place on Oct. 27-29.

Cross country

Both men’s and women’s cross country finished out their regular season at the Nuttycombe Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin. On the women’s side, junior Sophia Kennedy led the way for the Cardinal finishing in seventh place and getting through her six-kilometer race in a time of 19:48.8. Kennedy was propelled by a strong finish in the last 2000 meters, in which she jumped up 11 places. Stanford’s next highest placing woman was freshman Hanne Thomsen who finished 35th with a time of 20:30.2. Overall, the 11th ranked Stanford women’s team finished eighth place out of 30 teams. On the men’s side, junior Leo Young was the first Stanford athlete to cross the finish line. Young clocked a time of 23:48.6 for his eight-kilometer race and finished in 32nd place. As a whole the men’s team finished 16th out of 32 teams. The next race for both teams will be the ACC Championships on Oct. 31.

Football

Stanford football pulled off the upset over Florida State on Saturday night in front of a reunion homecoming crowd. Stanford scored early and managed to hang on for a 13-10 lead at the half. The Seminoles nearly pulled off a comeback late in the fourth quarter, but on the final play, with zeros on the clock, Stanford’s defense was able to stop FSU running back Gavin Sawchuk just short of the end zone to seal the 20-13 victory. 

“At the end of the day we played with energy and passion and made plays when we had to make plays,” said interim head coach Frank Reich. This week Stanford travels to Coral Gables to face off against No. 9 ranked Miami, who is coming off a loss at the hands of Louisville.

Women’s soccer

On Thursday, the No. 2 women’s soccer team traveled to Tallahassee and knocked off No. 7 Florida State, breaking a 33-game home win streak for the Seminoles in the process. The Cardinal won the match 2-1 with both of their winning goals coming in the first half. Redshirt senior Andrea Kitahata drew first blood on an assist from senior Asmine Aikey. In the 36th minute, sophomore Charlotte Kohler was able to kick in a second goal for Stanford. In the second half, FSU scored once, but the Cardinal ultimately held on to the lead. 

Following their Friday performance against FSU, the Cardinal women were again on the field Sunday to face the University of Miami. The first half of the match saw no scoring for either team, but in the second half Kitahata and junior Shae Harvey scored back-to-back goals a minute and two seconds apart from one another. Following a Miami goal, Kitahata was able to send another one into the net, and the Card ultimately hung on for a 3-2 victory. Stanford’s next game will be at home on Saturday against SMU for senior night.

Men’s water polo

No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo had a massive clash against the No. 2 Cal Golden Bears on Friday. Stanford led from the start and walked away with a hard fought 12-8 win. Sophomore Ben Forer led the team in scoring with four goals and three assists. By Sunday, the team was back in action against the number six ranked team in the nation, UC Davis. In this game, junior Alex Gheoghe led the Cardinal in scoring with four goals. Stanford left the pool with an 18-12 win that moved them to 11-4 on the season. They will be back in competition Saturday in a neutral site game against Fordham.

Field hockey

On Friday the field hockey team lost 3-1 in disappointing fashion on the road against No. 5 Wake Forest. Stanford’s lone goal came from junior Gemma Townsend late in the final quarter. Two days later Stanford had the opportunity to bounce back against Davidson. They capitalized on the opportunity, beating Davidson 4-1 and capturing their first road win in the process. Senior Chantal Eiwanger opened the scoring for the Card, followed by sophomore Nadine Brenninkmeyer and redshirt senior Cara Sambeth, to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead going into the half. Junior Mia Clark put the final nail in the coffin with a fourth quarter goal that put Stanford up 4-1.

“It was a good game overall defensively … we improved a lot today,” said head coach Roz Ellis following the game. With the win Stanford improves to 6-8 on the season. The team will next take the field at home for senior day against UC Davis on Sunday.

Women’s volleyball

The No. 5 women’s volleyball team played twice this week at home, winning both games by a score of 3-1. Redshirt sophomore Ipar Kurt and senior Elia Rubin were the scoring leaders in Thursday’s matchup against Florida State. Kurt had a season-high 18 kills, five digs and a block. Rubin recorded her team-best sixth double-double of the season, in a performance that included three aces, which puts her at sixth all-time in Stanford history. Sunday’s match against the No. 15 Miami Hurricanes was contested the whole way with 13 total lead changes, but Stanford prevailed. Rubin again showed out, with a team-leading 17 kills, nine digs and one ace performance. Redshirt sophomore Julia Blyashov gave a standout performance when it mattered most, contributing 15 kills with three blocks and two digs. The Card will travel to Clemson on Friday for their next match.

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