Stanford came flying out of the gate this NCAA Women’s soccer season. With 5 games complete the Cardinal are ranked #1 in the UnitedSoccer Coaches Poll, having blasted 19 goals in their first 4 matchups.

They haven’t played against cupcakes either, with USF, Santa Clara, San Diego State, and St. Mary’s all lying in their wake. It’s an ambitious early slate for the recent college cup standouts. Some teams might have picked easier wins and smaller teams to open their season, rather than talented local rivals and challengers.

The opener was against the USF Dons in Palo Alto, and featured Jasmine Aikey in a new, attacking central role. Aikey was one of the best defenders in the nation last season, partnering with Elise Evans to create one of the most offensively creative center back pairings.

“I think one of the biggest things about this team is how relentless and ruthless we are. Those are the words we’re using,” said Aikey “It’s just so fun to be on the halfway line after scoring knowing we’re going to score another one.”

Aikey’s more creative role has kept games open for her, having picked up five goals and an assist through the first five games of the season.

Strategic Shifts in 2025

With new personnel, Stanford is solving their problems differently in 2025. Stanford has Aikey drop in to create a box of 4 players in the midfield, while keeping their forwards high and wide to create space. They’re perfectly willing to reel the ball back to their passing center backs, switch sides, and jump forward quickly when the opportunity arises.

In exchange for Aikey moving up, and because of some older talent graduating, Box to Box midfielder Mia Bhuta has made a shift to right back. Mirroring worldwide tactical trends, Bhuta will be able to step into or ‘invert’ into the midfield in addition to running up and down the sidelines. By stepping into midfield, Bhuta can give extra support to the center of the defense and have access to a greater array of passes while seeing the entire field.

Forward Allie Montoya has benefited from the space that Aikey opens up. She was the first scorer to bag against USF, and has subsequently scored in each of the first four matchups of the season. Montoya, and two goals for Aikey was all Stanford got from their starters, with the other four scores coming from the bench.

The Cardinal are beating teams, but more specifically they’re doing so with their entire roster, not just the front end. Balanced attacks are tougher to plan for, as eventual champions UNC demonstrated by sharing their scoring burden through the season.

“I thought when we made changes to the lineup, things either stayed the same or got better. So I was really proud of everyone’s performance,” said Stanford Soccer Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe.

Getting Results

The Cardinal followed up their first victory with a 5-1 drubbing of #16 Santa Clara. It was a completely dominant performance, with the first half shot tally being 19/0 in Stanford’s favor. In spite of conceding in the second half, this Stanford defense looks primed to hold up against really strong opposition.

Stanford’s defense is made easier by their patient offense, for every second that the Cardinal possess the ball, their opponents can’t take it and score.

The destruction continued with a 6-0 dismantling of Arizona that featured another few goals from Aikey.

“Jazzy looked really in form tonight, she was scoring goals and turning players, creating opportunities for other players,” said Ratcliffe after the victory. I think she’s been really dynamic up front for us.”

For the remainder of the early season, Paul Ratcliffe was able to heavily rotate his team, playing bench players for significant minutes. For as long a season as they project to have, every piece will be important to stay healthy enough to return to the college cup.

Now comes the first test, a road trip against top teams like USC and UCLA.

“I think it will be a really good test for the team to measure where we're at,” said Ratcliffe. “It will build our character to be on the road together.”