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The Cal women’s soccer team faces two must-win situations after losing, 2-1, to top-ranked Stanford on Saturday at Edwards Stadium. 

After a promising start to the season that included wins over defending NCAA champion Santa Clara and national power Texas A&M, the Golden Bears have struggled since hitting the Pac-10 part of the schedule. Head coach Kevin Boyd’s team raced out to a 7-2-1 start but has since posted a 2-5-0 record in one of the strongest conferences in the country. 

All-American forward Laura Schott scored early against Stanford to put the Golden Bears up 1-0 and move her within three goals of tying Joy Fawcett’s all-time Cal record of 55. But the Cardinal got two first-half goals from their own All-American forward, Marcia Wallis, to complete the comeback. 

Cal’s overall record fell to 9-7-1. Stanford, which has now beaten Cal two consecutive years after the Golden Bears had won the previous three in a row, improved to 16-1 (7-0 Pac-10). 

The Bears will likely need to beat Arizona this Friday and Arizona State on Sunday to advance to the NCAA tournament. 

“We played well,” Cal coach Kevin Boyd said. “It was a dead even game with the No. 1 team in the country.” 

Stanford outshot Cal, 12-9, and forced Bears goalkeeper Sani Post to make four saves. Cardinal keeper Nicole Barnhart stopped three shots. 

Cal’s Brittany Kirk set up Schott’s second-minute strike, passing the ball to a streaking Schott in the Stanford penalty area. The Cal forward got her right leg on the ball before Barnhart lunged out to grab it. Barnhart got a hand on the shot but couldn’t keep it from falling into her net. 

“It was kind of a thigh ball,” Schott said. “I’ve played with Nicole for a long time, and I knew if I took two touches she’d smother me. I just had to get whatever on it that I could.” 

Kirk’s assist gave the senior midfielder sole possession of third place on the all-time Cal assist list, with 19. Fawcett also holds that record with 23 assists. 

Cal controlled much of the early going, but the dangerous Cardinal eventually woke up. A corner kick produced its first shot and first goal. In the 22nd minute, Marcie Ward took a short corner and passed to Kelsey Carlson, who quickly passed to Natalie Spilger. The defender sent a short ball into the Cal penalty area to Wallis, who turned and fired the ball past Post. 

In the 33rd minute, Stanford forward Jennifer Farenbaugh dropped a long ball into the Cal area to Wallis, who had two shots saved by Post before sending her third effort into the net. 

Despite the loss, Boyd was encouraged by the effort of his Bears, who lost last weekend to Washington and Washington State. 

“We came off a weekend last weekend where the whole team was in the dumpers,” Boyd said. “We had to do a real character check and a team check this whole week to try to make things right. I thought we did that. It’s tough to come out, do that and then lose and feel like you didn’t accomplish it. But in fact we did.” 

If Cal hopes to make the postseason tournament, the Bears need to sweep the Arizona schools in the final weekend of the regular season. 

“If we split, I think we go into the selection show with a rabbit’s foot and hoping we get a little luck,” Boyd said. “I think if we win both, we’re in, and if we lose both, we’re out.”