In Case You Missed It
PULLMAN, Wash. – In one of the biggest games in Lower Soccer Field history, the Washington State soccer team (11-5-1, 4-5-1) came up with one of their gutsiest performances of the year as the Cougars earned a hard-fought draw with No. 1 Stanford (15-0-2, 8-0-1), 1-1, in double-overtime. Battered and bruised coming into the game, the short-handed Cougars weathered a punishing attack by the Cardinal in the opening 45 minutes highlighted by 19 shots in the first half. Stanford would break through in the 41' on a world-class strike by Catarina Macario as the sophomore star bent a ball into the upper corner of the far left post, striking the goal with the outside of her right foot from the deep right corner outside of the Cougars' 18. Despite the goal, the Cougars never let up in their own attack, turning the tides of the match late in the second half with a dominant performance over the final 15 minutes of regulation. In the 76', the Cougars' pressure would pay off when star forward
Morgan Weaver pressured the Cardinal keeper and intercepted a pass just outside the 18. With the ball at her feet and an open net, Weaver gave the home fans the shot they had been dreaming the entire afternoon of as the junior slid her strike past the outstretched hands of the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. For the final 35 min of play in regulation including the two overtimes the two sides would play even with neither team putting a shot on frame during extra time.
For the Cougs, the draw was made possible due to the defense as WSU turned away 12 Cardinal shots on goal led by keeper
Rachel Thompson who tied her career-best with nine saves. The redshirt-junior keeper picked up some key help from her defensive-mates as the Cougars came up with a trio of team saves in the game as
Brianna Alger,
Elaily Hernandez-Repreza, and
Grace Hancock all cleared would-be goals away from the open net.
Stat of the Match
The Cougars posted a season-high 12 saves including three defensive saves by the backline.
The Moments That Made The Match
Things You Need To Know
- The Cougs' snapped a four-match losing streak to the Cardinal, picking up their first result against Stanford since their 1-0 win in 2013.
- The draw for WSU was its first result over a No. 1 ranked team in nine contests all-time and the first with a No. 1 ranked Stanford team in six attempts.
- Morgan Weavers' goal was her career-best ninth of the year and 24th career strike. Two of her nine goals have come against the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country
- The goal by WSU was the first against the Cardinal in over one month, the last coming on Sept. 27 when they defeated #2 UCLA, 3-2, at home. It was just the eighth goal given up by the Cardinal on the season.
- The three defensive saves were the most all-time in a single game for WSU. Elaily Hernandez-Repreza and Brianna Alger both picked up their first-career defensive saves.
- The Cougs close out the regular season Friday, Nov. 2 against Washington at Lower Soccer Field. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.
- Attendance: 921
