Stanford soccer honors late captain Katie Meyer, calls for mental health support in season-opening win
STANFORD – As the Stanford women’s soccer team took the field Thursday night for its first game since the shocking death of former captain Katie Meyer, the players wore warm-up shirts with the words “Mental Health Matters” on the back and “988”, the national suicide and crisis lifeline, on the sleeve.
Meyer, the goalkeeper on the 2019 national championship team and the starter in net for each of the past three seasons, died by suicide on March 1.
“Our team went through the unimaginable in the spring,” senior defender Kennedy Wesley said. “And if we can take anything from it, we want to make it known that it’s OK to ask for help. We have the suicide hotline on the side of our warm-up shirts so that people know that we want to talk about it and make it a conversation.”
While the warm-up shirts were the only outward sign of tribute to Meyer on Thursday, her memory was still top of mind for the Cardinal. Stanford didn’t issue Meyer’s No. 19 uniform this season, and the players said they are dedicating the season to her.
“Katie was the heart and soul of our team, she was our big spirit, kind of the face of our team, and we knew going in that we would feel her absence,” Wesley said.
“But with that, we wanted to do everything we could to make her proud and bring the spirit, the energy, everything that she encompassed, we wanted to embody that as a group and do it together as one. I think we’re on the right track. It was a little difficult but we’re super excited and willing to do everything for her.”
The Cardinal accomplished that with its 5-0 opening-night win over Sacramento State at Cagan Stadium. Junior Samantha Williams scored twice as the Cardinal outshot the Hornets 37-4.
Senior Maya Doms said the preparation started in the spring, with team meetings and visualizations of what they would be going through.
“Mentally we were patient with ourselves, we were careful with ourselves, we were there for each other,” Doms said. “Not avoiding our feelings and really being there for each other.”
Meyer’s parents, Steve and Gina, have started a foundation, Katie’s Save, that advocates for better mental health checks and balances for college students. Their initial effort is focused on allowing college students to have the option of designating an advocate that would receive notices from their school if the student may need guidance or support. Meyer’s parents were unaware that Katie was facing a disciplinary hearing at Stanford at the time of her suicide.
As for the team, a proud program with two national titles in the past five seasons now must navigate the emotions of playing in memory of their former leader, while not being overwhelmed by those feelings.
The Cardinal is ranked 21st in the United Soccer Coaches poll and was picked to win by the Pac-12 coaches to win the conference this season.
“We’re playing every game for Katie Meyer. This season is going to be for her,” Doms said. “We’re going to be thinking of her every time we play, but we also have to stay focused because we have a goal of winning the national championship, especially for her.”
Stanford next hosts the Chinese National Team in an exhibition match on Sunday night in front of what is expected to be a capacity crowd of 1,900 at Cagan.