[COLLEGE WOMEN: Weekend] No. 2 Stanford remained unbeaten when fifth-year senior Courtney Verloo completed her firstcollegiate hat trick by converting a free kick from 22 yards — her second free-kick goal of the game — in the 108th minute to give the Cardinal a 3-2 comeback victory at No. 13 Santa Clara before3,252 fans on Sunday night.
Santa Clara had taken a 2-1 lead on a left-footed shot by Mexican international Sofia Huerta in the 83rd minuteafter the Cardinal was unable to clear a shot by Julie Johnston, but Verloo equalized with 54 seconds left in regulation when she scored from the penalty spotafter freshman defender Maddie Bauer was fouled inside the penalty area.
Verloo had scored on a free kick from just outside the box in the secondminute, but Johnston one-timed a shot off one bounce into the goal in the 16th minute.
The win was the ninth consecutive victory for Stanford over Santa Clara, closing the gap in theirseries to 18-16-5 in the Broncos’ favor.
“This was a game we feel we should have won,” said Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith. “Wehad the lead and gave them the tying goal. We scored two quality goals in the run of play and gifted them three goals on dead balls with fouls. I’m disappointed because I feel that we were thebetter team today.”
UNBEATEN AND UNTIED. No. 1 Virginia improved to 9-0-0 with a 3-1 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday. The Cavaliers, who matched theirbest start to a season since 2004, fell behind on Dana DelleFamine‘s breakaway in the 12th minute before recovering thanks to two goals from
The Cavs are the only unbeaten and untied teamin the country after the other four teams that were perfect at the beginning of the week all lost or tied.
— No. 15 Denver began the week at 7-0-0 but tied TCU, 1-1, and lost toNebraska, 2-1. Kristen Hamilton scored to become the Pioneers’ all-time scoring leader with 117 points with the opening goal in Lincoln, but theCornhuskers answered 12 seconds later as Katie Kraeutner scored off a cross from Jordan Jackson.
— No. 22Michigan handed Iowa its first defeat after seven wins with a 2-1 victory over the Hawkeyes on goals by leading scorer Nkem Ezurike and
— No. 10 Georgetown had tosettle for a 1-1 tie with UCF after starting the season with seven wins. Junior Tatiana Coleman‘s penalty kick earned the Knights the draw, which snapped theHoyas’ home winning streak at 16 games.
— Unranked Penn began the week at 4-0-0 but had to settle for ties at William & Mary (0-0) and Old Dominion (2-2).
— Crystal Dunn scored the first hat trick of her career as No. 5 NorthCarolina ended a two-match losing streak with a 4-0 win at Miami. It was the first UNC hat trick in almost three years.
— Junior midfielder MartaBakowska-Mathews scored on a free kick in the 87th minute to lift No. 7 Florida State to a 1-0 victory over N.C. State. The goal was the first of the season for the English native.
Freshman Watch …
— Darian Jenkins scored her team-leading sixthand seventh goals of the season to lead No. 6 UCLA to a 2-0 win over Pepperdine in Malibu and a 3-0 win at Loyola Marymount.
— Marion Crowder’sseventh goal of the season on a tap-in was the game-winner as Georgia knocked No. 8 South Carolina from the unbeaten ranks with a 2-0 win in their SEC battle.
I am not a Santa Clara fan but as an ex-referee I found the penalty call that I watched on ESPNU to be a joke considering the calls during the rest of the match.