Stanford Soccer Hoping Third Time's a Charm in College Cup

Stanford women's soccer has been on a dominant run all year long. They've been so dominant in fact, that they've lost just once and ended up tied twice, giving them a record of 20-1-2. That includes the tie they had with Notre Dame in the ACC Championship, which they ended up winning on penalty kicks.

After that ACC title win, they have run through the NCAA Tournament, beating Cal Poly (3-1), Alabama (7-3), BYU (6-0) and No. 9 Michigan State (5-1) to advance to the College Cup in Kansas City, MO. Their first matchup will be on Friday, December 5 against No. 11 Duke. Despite both programs residing in the ACC, Stanford has not faced Duke this season.

Both Duke and Stanford made it to the College Cup last year as well, but the Cardinal were defeated by Wake Forest, while Duke lost to eventual champion North Carolina. This year, one of these two teams will be playing for the championship.

The two programs on the other side of the bracket are Florida State and TCU. While the Cardinal haven't faced the Horned Frogs this year, they have taken on and defeated the Seminoles, 2-1 in Tallahssee, FL back in October.

From the opening kick to the final horn, the Cardinal have absolutely dominated this season.

Just 15 minutes into their win over Michigan State, Stanford opened up the scoreboard, with a goal from Eleanor Klinger and an assist from Charlotte Kohler. Ten minutes later, Kohler got on the scoreboard again, but this time in the form of a goal. A beautiful pass by Elise Evans reached Kohler, and she was able to find the back of the net. Stanford led 2-0 at the half.

The second half was just as dominant from the Cardinal, with Andrea Kitahata starring. First, she found the net in the 60th minute, followed by a penalty kick in the 63rd, giving the Cardinal a dominant 4-0 lead. Just a few minutes after Kitahata’s brace, Jasmine Aikey joined the goal party, adding one of her own in the 68th minute.

Luckily for the passionate Spartan fans, a 76th minute goal alleviated some of the pain, but it obviously wasn’t enough. Stanford came away with a 5-1 victory, and officially stamped their way to the College Cup this week.

Stanford went 9-0-1 in conference play this season, while Duke went 7-3.

Given how this season has played out it would certainly appear as though Stanford is the better soccer team, but the best team doesn’t always win. That’s why Jasmine Aikey, Andrea Kitahata, Charlotte Kohler, Elise Evans, and the entire team need to stay locked in, and make sure they're prepared for next weekend in Kansas City.

Stanford is now going to their third consecutive College Cup, and will be hoping to win the title for the first of those three visits.

It’s going to be a massive week for Stanford women’s soccer as they prepare for an opportunity to bring the College Cup back to Palo Alto for the first time since 2019. They could also be the program that ends up bringing Stanford back a national title for the 50th consecutive season.