Around the League: Pac-12 soccer teams, women’s volleyball find their places in top-25 NCAA ranks

Women’s soccer
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor

The Pac-12 occupies top spots in the NCAA women’s soccer rankings.

The conference features five teams in the top 25 of the women’s soccer rankings, with Stanford (12-0-1, 5-0-0 Pac-12) and USC (11-1-1, 4-1-0) occupying the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively.

The Cardinal have held the top spot in the rankings every week this season, holding an undefeated stretch from Aug. 25, 2017. Stanford has conceded seven goals while scoring 33, with 2.54 goals per game, 24.7 shots per game and forward Catarina Macario leading the team with seven goals and five assists.

The Trojans have occupied the No. 2 spot since week six of the season, with their only loss being a 1-0 defeat to Stanford in overtime. USC has recorded 2.46 goals per game, with 32 scored and five conceded. The Trojans have three players with more than 15 points, including their top-scorer forward Leah Pruitt, who has seven goals and four assists.

UCLA (8-3-1, 3-2-0) is No. 10 in the recent rankings, with Colorado (11-0-3, 3-0-2) at No. 16. The Buffaloes are undefeated, with two draws against Pac-12 teams and notably a win against then-No. 7 Washington State (10-2-0, 3-2-0). Buffalo forwards Tatum Barton and Jorian Baucom lead the conference with 11 goals each.

The Washington State Cougars have fallen to No. 19 after being as high as No. 7 last week. They have logged 2.00 goals per game and forward Morgan Weaver leads the team with seven goals in 12 games played.

Women’s volleyball
Angie Forburger, assistant Sports editor

Pac-12 women’s volleyball is in full swing.

No. 2 Stanford (14-1, 6-0 Pac-12) currently leads the conference with an undefeated Pac-12 record. The Cardinal has swept four of their last six conference opponents, with their most recent win coming against Colorado (10-7, 2-4). Stanford will next host No. 21 Washington State (13-3, 4-2) on Friday.

The Cougars are tied for second in the conference along with three other teams ­– No. 18 Washington (12-4, 4-2), No. 25 Arizona State (13-6, 4-3), No. 15 USC (12-5, 4-2) and No. 14 Oregon (11-5, 4-2). Washington State has won four games in a row, most recently coming off victories against Arizona and Arizona State.

Arizona State swept Washington on Sunday but was bested by No. 20 UCLA (9-5, 4-3) on Wednesday. The Sun Devils will face the Trojans before returning home to take on crosstown rivals No. 23 Arizona Wildcats (14-4, 3-3), who are coming off back-to-back home losses to Washington and Washington State.

UCLA and USC hosted Oregon and Oregon State (10-8, 0-6) last week, both getting swept by the Ducks and sweeping the Beavers. The Bruins will take on the Wildcats on Friday, looking to maintain their winning conference record.

Colorado, California (9-8, 1-5), Utah (9-8, 1-5) and Oregon State sit at the bottom of the conference standings.

The Buffaloes’ only Pac-12 wins have come against the Golden Bears and Utes, with their next matches being against Oregon and Oregon State.

California’s single conference win comes from its matchup against Utah, while Utah’s only win was an upset over Washington. Oregon State has yet to secure a Pac-12 victory.

Conference play will continue through the end of November until the start of the NCAA tournament.

Men’s soccer
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor

A couple of Pac-12 teams have broken into the top-25 rankings this week.

The men’s soccer rankings have two teams in the top-25 rankings, with Stanford (6-1-3, 3-0-0 Pac-12) taking the No. 10 spot and UCLA (7-4-0, 3-1-0) at No. 21.

The Cardinal have won three straight Pac-12 games, including a 3-0 win against the Bruins and a 4-2 win over the California Golden Bears (5-4-2, 1-2-0). Stanford is led by forward Amir Bashti, who has six goals and three assists in 10 games played, and has four players with five or more points.

As a team, the Cardinal have recorded 1.70 goals per game and a .365 shot-on-goal percentage that has led to 17 goals scored. Notable games remaining in the regular season include seven Pac-12 matches and one nonconference matchup against No. 3 Denver to conclude the season.

Washington (6-5-0, 1-2-0) sits third in the Pac-12 standings and has lost notable nonconference matches to then-No. 19 Denver (10-1-2, 2-0-1 Summit League) in double overtime and then-No. 20 Portland (9-0-2, 1-0-0 West Coast Conference). The Huskies have scored 17 goals while conceding 13 and have posted 1.55 goals per game.

California recently fell to UCLA and Stanford but leads the conference with 19 goals and 1.73 goals per game. The Golden Bears also lead the Pac-12 with a .143 shooting percentage and 16 goals against.

California forward Shinya Kadono leads the Pac-12 with 10 goals, followed by Bashti and Oregon State (5-4-2, 1-2-0) forward Don Tchilao. Stanford defender Tanner Beason is tied with UCLA freshman midfielder Matt Hundley with five assists in conference play.