Cardinal Roundup: Women’s golf dominates in Hawaii and basketball is back in action

This week in sports marks the end of the regular season for soccer and field hockey, the start of postseason competition for cross country and the beginning of the season for basketball and wrestling.

Women’s basketball

Women’s basketball opened up their season in an exhibition game against Cal State LA on Wednesday. Stanford won 85-50 led by junior Chloe Clardy, who had a very productive 20-point six rebound night.  Stanford as a team hit 45.1 percent of its shots on the night. The regular season begins on Monday at 7 p.m. as Stanford plays host to UNC Greensboro.

Men’s basketball

Men’s basketball also warmed up for their season with a home exhibition match. On Thursday night, Maples Pavilion hosted former Pac-12 rival Oregon. The Cardinal left the game victorious, after a tight 78-70 contest that required double-digit performances from senior Chisom Okpara, freshman Ebuka Okorie and redshirt junior Ryan Agarwal. This was Stanford’s final tune-up game before they start their regular season on Tuesday night against Portland State.

Women’s soccer

No. 2 women’s soccer closed out their regular season in style on Thursday with an 8-2 dominating road win over Cal that sealed the ACC regular season title. Coming into the game, the Cardinal and Notre Dame had the same regular season record, but the victory over Cal paired with a Notre Dame loss gave Stanford its first ever outright ACC women’s soccer regular season title. Sophomore Charlotte Kohler opened the floodgate early for the Cardinal, scoring in the third minute of the contest. Following Kohler’s goal the deluge of scoring kept coming. Senior Jasmine Aikey scored twice on route to the 8-2 victory. Stanford’s regular season title victory earns them a first round bye in the ACC tournament as they await the winner of Virginia and Florida State. They return to the pitch on Thursday.

Men’s soccer

No. 1 men’s soccer lost their final regular season game 1-0 to Cal in Berkeley. The game-winning point from Cal broke a five-match streak of defensive shutouts by the Card. The frustration of the loss was compounded by the fact that Stanford controlled possession for most of the game and had over four times as many shots on goal but were unable to put the ball into the back of the net. Stanford will move onto the ACC tournament where, as the number two seed, they will host a first-round match against Boston College this Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Women’s cross country

Women’s cross country traveled to Louisville, Ky. on Friday to compete in the ACC championship. The women finished fourth in the conference, led by junior Sophia Kennedy. Kennedy finished seventh place overall in a field of 161 runners, finishing her six-kilometer race in a time of 19:35. Kennedy was the only competitor from Stanford to achieve the coveted all-ACC honors. Stanford will next race in the NCAA West Regionals in Sacramento on Nov. 14.

Men’s cross country

The men’s team, likewise, competed at the ACC championship in Louisville on Friday. Junior Leo Young was the first Stanford competitor to cross the finish line. Young, who ran his eight-kilometer race in a time of 22:55, was part of a massive third through ninth place photo finish. Young himself came in fifth place, achieving all-ACC honors in the process. Sophomore James Dargan also achieved all-ACC honors with his 19th place, 23:18 finish. Like the women, the men will return to the state of California to race in the NCAA West Regionals Nov. 14.

Women’s golf

No. 1 Stanford women’s golf spent the first three days of the week at the Nanea Invitational in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. Stanford tied its all-time program record for lowest team score at any tournament finishing 44 strokes under par. The Cardinal finished the tournament with 19 fewer strokes than second place No. 21 Arizona State, despite entering the final round trailing the Sun Devils by one stroke. Sophomore Meja Örtengren finished the tournament in a three-way tie for first place, after a massive seven-under-par final round catapulted her up 15 spots. Sophomore Andrea Revuelta took fourth place with a score of nine-under-par. Stanford’s three remaining scoring golfers all shot eight-under-par and ended up in a five-way tie for fifth place. The Nanea Invitational marks the end of fall competition for the Cardinal. They will not compete again until early February.

Field hockey

Field hockey lost on the road 3-1 to Cal in their regular season finale on Thursday. The match was tightly contested for three quarters and tied 1-1 going into the fourth. Unfortunately, back-to-back fourth quarter goals from Cal spoiled the day for the Card. With the loss, Stanford will receive the number seven overall seed in the ACC tournament. They will be back in action Tuesday as postseason play commences.

Football

Stanford football lost its first home game of the season 35-20 against Pitt on Saturday. The Card ran face first into a dominant Pitt defense that recorded five sacks, two turnovers on downs and limited Stanford to negative four rushing yards. Stanford’s only opportunities came through the air. Redshirt senior Ben Gulbranson was benched in the second half after throwing three interceptions through three quarters as he finished his afternoon completing 17 out of 30 throws for one touchdown and 228 yards. Senior CJ Williams recorded 122 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while senior Sam Roush recorded 104 receiving yards, which was the first game in his career with over 100 receiving yards. Up next, Stanford will face the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday.

Wrestling

No. 14 Stanford wrestling opened up their season in disappointing fashion with a 19-12 loss to Utah Valley. The Cardinal did not have their full roster available and certainly missed the presence of redshirt junior all-Americans Daniel Cardenas and Hunter Garvin. Of the 10 matches that took place, Stanford won four of them. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Knox won in the 133-pound class, redshirt freshman EJ Parco in the 157-pound class, redshirt freshman Collin Guffey in the 174-pound class and freshman Angelo Posada in the 197-pound class. On Friday, Stanford will travel to No. 5 Oklahoma State.

Women’s volleyball 

No. 5 women’s volleyball played twice this week on the road, winning both games. On Friday, they faced NC State and won 3-1. Redshirt sophomore Ipar Kurt continued her dominant run, recording a team-high 16 kills in the match. On Sunday, the Cardinal swept Wake Forest 3-0, led by sophomore middle blocker Lizzy Andrews who led the team with nine kills. With the two weekend road wins, the Cardinal improved to 20-3 on the season and 11-1 in the ACC. Stanford now begins a five-game home stint, starting on Friday night against North Carolina.

Men’s water polo

No. 3 men’s water polo played twice this weekend against the No. 2 UCLA Bruins on Saturday and the No. 1 ranked USC Trojans on Sunday. On Saturday, Stanford lost 13-12 in a heart-breaking triple overtime match. Senior goalkeeper West Temkin did his best to keep the Cardinal in the game, recording 15 saves on the day, but ultimately Stanford was unable to come out on top. On Sunday, they fell 14-9 to the top team in the nation. Sophomore Botond Balogh and redshirt junior Guido Leonardi both recorded three score hat tricks in the loss. The Cardinal are now 12-6 on the season and their next match is on the road against No. 17 Santa Clara on Saturday.

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