Stanford 2, WSU 1: Cougs can’t pull off upset

For the second time this week, the Washington State soccer team lost a game. On Sunday in Palo Alto, the No. 21 Cougars dropped their top-25 matchup with 14th ranked Stanford, 2-1. They also dropped their matchup with California on Thursday by the same score.

After five matches for everyone in the Pac-12, the Cougs sit 2-2-1 in the Pac-12 with 7 points, which is good for a tie for fourth — but is 8 points off of first and 5 points off of second. They’re 8-3-2 overall.

The Cardinal got the scoring started in the 28th minute with an unstoppable shot from Jasmine Aikey off of a free kick just outside the box. Her bending shot beat Cougar goalkeeper Nadia Cooper — who got a finger tip to it, but no more — at the near post.

Right before half, Alyssa Gray earned a free kick near the sideline on the left side, and her cross into the box floated to the near post, where it found its way to defender Mykiaa Minniss. She popped it up right in front of the goal, where it bounced off of a Cardinal defender and into the goal.

The match stayed tied up until Stanford’s Samantha Williams brought in a long pass with two Cougar defenders between her and the goal in the 76th minute. She took it up the right side to the end line before stopping on a dime and crossing up Reese Tappan and somehow threading the needle between two more Cougar defenders and over the head of Cooper.

For the first time in a long time, the Cougs were outplayed on offense as they managed just 7 shots with 4 on goal compared to the Cardinal’s 22 shots with 10 on goal. Cooper tallied a season-high 8 saves during the match.

Up next for the Cougs is a home match against Oregon on Friday at 7 pm at Lower Soccer Field. They will get nearly a week off before playing at home again the following weekend against the Arizona schools.