From: DeBarger@slacvm.slac.stanford.edu
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: Stanford-Portland Report (long)
Date: 9 Nov 92 22:05:10 GMT
Organization: SLAC

In the First Round of the NCAA Div. 1 Women's Soccer Championship:

Stanford 5 (2) - 2 (2) Portland
24 Rafanelli         10 Milbrett
42 Foudy             11 MacMillan
61 Fischer (pk)
62 Murphy
68 Foudy

Match played at Stanford's Maloney Field. Att: ~2,000

For Portland:
             Voiland (gk)

              Parish
     Nakayama         Harsaghy

Boswell  Highfill  Griffith  Florey
              Osborn

      Milbrett        MacMillan

Subs. used: Martindale, Wair

For Stanford:
            Massell (gk)

            Fischer
     Minstrell     Wilkes
           Patitucci

Stephan  Foudy  Murphy  Potok

      Johnson    Rafanelli

Subs. used: Dey, Garrard (gk), Haring

A match featuring two of the top teams in the country. Portland, ranked #3
nationally, visiting #4 ranked Stanford. 

Stanford had the first good scoring opportunity of the match as Sarah Rafanelli
pounced on a lazy backpass and beat Portland 'keeper Michelle Voiland, but
Rafanelli's shot drifted wide.
At 10 minutes, Portland opened the scoring; Tiffeney Milbrett was put through
by a pass from Shannon MacMillan. Stanford goalkeeper Chris Massell came off
her line a bit early, and Milbrett was able to easily chip over Massell from
about 15 yards out. This was Milbrett's 30th goal this year, tops in the U.S.
One minute later, Milbrett turned provider. On a play in which both Portland
forwards were clearly offside (I was in perfect position to see this one)
Milbrett again drew Massell out and passed to a wide open MacMillan who
collected Portland's second goal.
Stanford's Melinda Minstrell fired a long ball towards the Portland goal at 24
minutes. Julie Foudy's shot from the right sided was blocked, but Rafanelli was
there to knock in the rebound.
Portland nearly restored their two goal lead a few minutes later, following
another questionable offside non-call. MacMillan's shot was able to beat the
Stanford 'keeper, but not U.S. Under-19 sweeper Jessica Fischer. On the ensuing
corner kick, the ball once again appeared to be headed for the back of the
Stanford net. This time it was Jen Potok who made the saving clearance.
The officiating in this match was much poorer than I would expect for a
post-season match. The referee allowed quite a lot of contact to go on without
calling a foul, yet often times the fouls that were called were made for
trivial contact. The worst call of the game was clearly made when Portland's
Tracy Osborn was brought down with a heavy tackle by Stanford's Jennifer
Stephan. The referee whipped out the yellow card (deserved) ... and gave it to
Foudy who was 5 yards away from the play!
This really incensed the 1991 Player of the Year, who turned up the assault on
the Portland goal. Foudy's shot from the right side at 40 minutes hit the
crossbar. Two minutes later, apparently trapped on the goal line, Foudy fired a
zero angle shot into the Portland net for the equalizer. At the half-time
break, Stanford had outshot Portland 14 to 5.
Stanford's dominance continued in the second half, and the Cardinal finally
went on top at 61 minutes. Sarah Rafanelli collected a ball at midfield,
turned, and made a tremendous run at the goal. When she was brought down in the
penalty area, Fischer stepped up and banged in the penalty kick.
One minute later Carmel Murphy duplicated Rafanelli's run, and squeezed the
ball between 'keeper Voilard and the right goalpost, and Stanford lead 4-2.
Rafanelli and Foudy both moved well through the Pilots defense for most of the
game. Rafanelli dribbled four defenders in the Portland penalty area, then laid
off a perfect ball for Foudy at 68 minutes. The Stanford senior's 13th goal of
the season gave the Cardinal a 5-2 lead.
Portland's last good chance came when Milbrett beat substitute goalkeeper
Leslie Garrard at 77 minutes, but luck was on Stanford's side and the ball came
off the right goalpost and back into Garrard's arms.
Portland has only two seniors, so they show much promise for continued success
next year. Milbrett and MacMillan have tremendous speed, and will continue to
score a lot of goals. I was not as impressed with the Pilots' defense, which
gave up a total of 26 goals in 20 games (granted North Carolina had 6 and
Stanford 5). If their defense improves, Portland (whose top four scorers will
be back next year) should make it even further next year.
Stanford's next opponent is Santa Clara. Last year the teams split their two
meetings, each team winning at home. This year the teams played to a 1-1 draw
at Stanford.

Summary of first round matches:
William and Mary 1 - O North Carolina State
Stanford 5 - 2 Portland
Connecticut 1 - 2 Massachusetts
Duke 1 - 0 Southern Methodist

Second round pairings
North Carolina - William and Mary
Santa Clara - Stanford
Hartford - Massachusetts
Duke - Virginia

Cheers, Scott

Scott DeBarger        "And all the science,
SLAC                   I don't understand.
                       It's just my job five days a week"
Stanford, CA                - Elton John