University of Washington
California
Two Ranked Pac-12 Opponents Await UW
September 27, 2016 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – With their Pac-12 schedule underway the Washington women's soccer team (5-4-1, 0-1-0) will hit the road to face two ranked opponents, going up against No. 17 California Thursday September 29th at 4:30 p.m. and No. 1 Stanford on Sunday October 2nd at 2 p.m.
The Dawgs fell in their conference opener last Friday night at Husky Soccer Stadium in a tough match with Utah 1-0. Despite outshooting the Utes 14 to four in the match, Washington was unable to put one in the back of the net, with Utah scoring on a penalty kick off of an unlucky handball in the box by UW. The Huskies will look to create some offense against two of the best teams in the country, traveling first to Berkeley, Calif. to face 17th ranked Cal.
The Golden Bears (8-2-0, 1-0-0) are currently riding a three-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 11-1 in those matches, and most recently began their Pac-12 schedule by defeating Oregon State 3-0. The second place team in the conference is led by senior forward Arielle Ship, who has scored four goals and recorded four assists. Cal's two losses on the season were to No. 21 Santa Clara 1-0, who the Huskies defeated earlier this year, and to St. Mary's 2-0. The Huskies and Bears have played each other in all but one of the program's 26 seasons, with UW owning the slight edge 12-11-1. UW also holds a winning record of 6-5-1 when playing a ranked Cal team, but has a 3-8 record in Berkeley.
On Sunday the Huskies will face the top-ranked team in the country in Stanford (8-0-1, 1-0-0), who began their Pac-12 schedule by defeating Oregon 3-0 last Saturday. The Cardinal began the season ranked 5th in the country, before grabbing their current position in the September 13th polls, where they've stood ever since. They have faced three ranked opponents this year, defeating No. 6 Florida 1-0, beating 10th ranked Minnesota 4-1, and drawing with No. 20 Notre Dame 2-2. They have outscored the opposition 22-6 through their first nine games, and are led in points by sophomore midfielder Jordan DiBiasi, who has scored six goals including one in each of the last two games.
Both matches this weekend will be televised by the Pac-12 Network, appearing on the Pac-12 Washington channel. You can also follow along by checking out the live stats pages for each match, or by following us on Twitter @UW_WSoccer.
