Cardinal women stay undefeated

MORAGA -- The No. 2 Stanford women's soccer team closed within one victory of its best-ever start, thanks to a 59th minute goal by Christen Press that gave the Cardinal a 1-0 victory over Saint Mary's on Sunday afternoon in a match in which the temperature reached 100 degrees.

Press worked a one-two combination with Kelley O'Hara before slotting an open 14-yard low shot inside the right post. It was the eighth goal of the season for the sophomore forward who also hit the crossbar and the post on other shots.

Stanford (10-0-0), ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA coaches' poll and No. 1 in three others, earned its fourth consecutive shutout and extended its scoreless string to 446:32 minutes. Stanford, however, required a diving two-handed punch save by goalkeeper Kira Maker on a hard left-footed shot by Alex Ciliento after a cutback move that would have given the Gaels (5-5-0) a second-half lead.

Maker matched her season high with three saves, and the Gaels' nine shots also matched the most Stanford has allowed all season.

"I thought we were really flat in the first in the first half," said Stanford's Paul Ratcliffe, who earned his 150th collegiate career victory at the school where he coached for five years. "That kind of set the tone for the game. The second half was a lot better and we showed better character.

"We have to have the right mentality. I thought Saint Mary's had the right mentality and played very hard. We have to realize going into games that we have to put 100 percent into it."

Stanford suffered a blow when right outside back Camille Levin was red-carded after a collision with the Gaels' Caroline Shevlin in the 74th minute. Stanford moved midfielder Allison McCann into the right back spot and was able to fight off Saint Mary's despite playing down a player for the final 16 minutes. Levin must sit out Stanford's next match, a showdown at No. 9 Santa Clara (8-3-0) on Thursday at 7 p.m.

 Ratcliffe is unsure who will play the spot against Santa Clara, perhaps Rachel Quon, who started the first eight matches there, but has been away from the team for more than a week because of a family matter.

The Santa Clara match will conclude Stanford's nonconference season.