No. 1 Stanford shuts out No. 11 Santa Clara as Lizzie Boamah stars in dual role

SANTA CLARA — Lizzie Boamah is never going to say no to scoring a goal.

The Stanford freshman normally plies her trade as a defender, but on Sunday against No. 11 Santa Clara, she received a brief opportunity to play as a forward. Boamah took full advantage of her good fortune, scoring the No. 1 Cardinal’s lone goal in a 1-0 shutout win over the Broncos in front of about 2,000 fans at Stevens Stadium.

“I mean, I’m never going to say I don’t like playing forward, just because I get to use my speed very close to the goal,” Boamah said afterward. “I think I’ll always be an outside back, but I love playing forward.”

Boamah won a 50-50 ball sent into the box by teammate Charlotte Kohler, then poked the ball past Santa Clara keeper Marlee Nicolos in the 55th minute. The win improved Stanford to 8-0 this season — a perfect nonconference mark as the top-ranked Cardinal get ready to start Atlantic Coast Conference play later this week.

“Impressive start to the season for the team,” said Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe. “Happy to see all their hard work’s paying off. We’re excited for the challenge and the opportunity, so we’re preparing as much as we can. But obviously, it will be demanding on us, physically and mentally. But I think the team’s up to it, so we’re excited for it.”

Boamah noted that because Stanford will likely enter conference play as the top team in the country, their new conference mates on the Atlantic coast — including No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Florida State — are motivated to give the Cardinal a rude welcome to the rigorous competition the ACC offers.

“I’m super excited,” Boamah said. “I think it puts a big target on our backs, but we’re all up for it. We’re up to the challenge. So I’m glad that we’re undefeated, but yeah, more work to do.”

Santa Clara fell to 6-2 to close out its nonconference slate ahead of West Coast Conference action. Though Stanford controlled most of the game, the Broncos finished even with the Cardinal in shots (8-8) and shots on goal (3-3), perhaps a positive sign for their chances moving forward.

“Hats off to Stanford. They got us today,” said Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith. “But the game was really even. All the stats were even, the game felt even. Dangerous chances felt pretty even. We made a couple of mistakes at the back of our team on the goal that they did score. But good teams take advantage of mistakes that you make, and they’re a real good team.”

Both squads feel confident ahead of the start of their respective conference slates. Stanford faces a major adjustment, as the Cardinal will have to travel across the country for almost every road game, starting with a trip to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to play Wake Forest on Sept. 19.

Games against Cal are the lone exception.

“I want to make sure we get tested,” Ratcliffe said of his nonconference goals. “You want to build up the team and make sure they’re tested. And I think today was a good test. Playing at Santa Clara, there’s a good crowd. So that’s important, that we get used to that more in ACC games. Ultimately, we’re just trying to prepare the team for what’s next. And that’s hard games, challenging matches.”

Santa Clara won’t have to travel the country for its league slate this year. The Broncos are scheduled to face familiar foes like Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Portland, with new additions Washington State and Oregon State in the mix as well.

Smith appreciated the opportunity for the Broncos to close out nonleague play by testing themselves against the best. After a week off, Santa Clara begins its league campaign at San Francisco on Sept. 28.

“We love the rivalry with Stanford. They do too,” he said. “There’s usually some friction, and that’s a good thing. Rivalries have to have certain ingredients. There has to be some friction. It has to go back and forth. Over our history, it’s not 50-50, but it’s pretty close to 50-50. Good crowd today for not having students. Santa Clara and Stanford don’t start for over a week, and so our students aren’t in town yet, but still, there was a good crowd.

“I’m proud of our effort. I thought our tactics were spot on today, but full credit to Stanford.”