No. 1 Stanford Women's Soccer Stays Perfect in 2-0 Win Over No. 14 Georgetown

Stanford scored twice in the first ten minutes to take a 2-0 lead, and never looked back. The unfortunate news from this game is that those first ten minutes didn't make the broadcast on the ACC Network, so fans watching from home were treated to a stalemate with no score bug. 

Watching the game, however, it was clear that the Cardinal women were dominating play once again, holding possession for much of the contest. 

In the sixth minute, freshman Ella Kral scored her first collegiate goal on a beauty with her right foot that she just lifted over the outstretched hand of the Georgetown goaltender. Charlotte Kohler earned the assist on the goal.

First of many from Ella Kral ⚽️ #GoStanfordpic.twitter.com/IVYrwvSx8u

Less than four minutes later, Kohler would score her second goal of the season, knocking in a powerful booming boot at the top of the net. 

Even with the goal early, Kral only ended up playing 33:38 in this one, as head coach Paul Ratcliffe was looking to get a lot of different players some minutes. Getting a sense of how this team can operate with different combinations will be critical as the season progresses, with three players named to the Team USA U-20 Women's World Cup roster.

Sophomore goaltender Caroline Birkel, junior defender Lizzie Boamah, and sophomore midfielder Y-Lan Nguyen will be representing the team in Poland in September. The event will be held from September 5-27.

While they are ranked No. 1 to begin the 2026 season, Ratcliffe believes that ranking is both a compliment from the coaches and a recognition of what they achieved last season. The Stanford coach said that they still have to earn that No. 1 ranking this season. 

Both head coach Paul Ratcliffe and Kohler mentioned postgame that the team may have left a couple of goals out there against a tough opponent.

"I think we need to follow through and continue to keep our foot on the gas, but good performance," Ratcliffe said after the 2-0 win. "Good result against a strong team." 

Kohler said that the team is still working on their relationships and finding connections on the field, which is something that they will continue to do over the coming days and weeks. They also need to work on execution when they have those chances, but a 2-0 result against a top-25 program is still a good outcome while they are finding their groove.

The more games these women play together, the more of a rhythm they'll get into, and that could be when they start scoring goals in droves. 

"I think it's just getting people confidence to keep taking shots, keep getting chances on goal," Kohler said of what the team will be looking to achieve when they take the field again on Sunday. "As a team, figure things out in our builds, and find the right passes at the right times on the field to be more dangerous."