UW To Face Stanford In Sweet Sixteen

PALO ALTO, Calif. – UW women’s soccer will make its fourth Sweet Sixteen appearance in program history when it plays No. 3 Stanford Sunday afternoon in a Pac-12 rematch.

The Huskies (14-6-2) got a game-winning goal from Kimby Keever in the first minute of overtime against Missouri Friday night in their second-round game.

The goal was the sixth of the year to go with three assists for Keever, who was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. The 1-0 victory was the Huskies’ 14th win of the 2014 season, the most wins for the Huskies since 2008 when they finished with 15.

Jaclyn Softli has 10 goals this season to lead the Huskies, putting her in the top 10 for goals scored in a season in UW history. The first-team All-Pac-12 honoree now has 19 career goals, also top-10 all-time. 

Friday’s shutout of Missouri was Megan Kufeld’s ninth of the season, which is second most ever for a UW goalkeeper in a single season. She now has 16 in her career, fourth highest total in program history.

Senior Christina Archer will make her 83rd career appearance Sunday, which puts her in a tie for fifth-most with Husky greats Lindsay Elston and Veronica Perez.

The Cardinal (19-1-2) finished second in the Pac-12 during the regular season, losing only to top-ranked UCLA. Stanford beat Arkansas 1-0 in the second round. Lo’eau LaBonta scored the game’s only goal in the 24th minute when she finished a penalty kick opportunity. 

LaBonta leads Stanford with 12 goals and five assists while Chioma Ubogagu has conrtibuted 10 goals and six assists. Keeper Jane Campbell has 13 shutouts this year.

Sunday’s game will be the 25th meeting between the two teams, the last coming earlier this season in Palo Alto when the Cardinal beat the Huskies in 4-1 behind Ryan Walker-Hartshorn’s hat trick. Stanford holds a 21-2-1 advantage in the all-time series. This will be the second meeting between the two in the NCAA Tournament. Stanford beat UW in the second round in 1994 on penalty kicks.

UW has played a Pac-12 opponent only four times in the NCAA Tournament, the last coming in 1998 against USC in a first round loss for the Huskies. They are 2-2-0 all-time in the tournament against conference foes, winning in the first round against UCLA in 1995 and Oregon State in 1994.

The Huskies and Cardinal will kick off at 1 p.m. PT Sunday. The game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Network. Follow the action live on Twitter at @UW_WSoccer.