2/6/16: Stampede unbeaten in winter NPL play

The Stampede are 3-0-1 having played four of five league games in the winter NPL season.  They started things off beating Santa Rosa 3-0. Niya Allen sent on a long cross to Jordan David at the six who in turn buried a beautiful volley. Then Allen came back with a 30 yarder of her own from way outside the box making it 2-0. Sophie Karperos finished the shutout with a third tally from 15. After a 0-0 stalemate against Sac United, the locals then eeked out a 1-0 nail biter vs. Placer United. As time ran thin, Allen found some space and rifled a half-volley from 35 which skipped by the opposing keeper for the win.  Stampede keeper McKenna Lutzker made a tough save late to preserve the victory.  Last weekend, facing a rough and tough Manteca, the Stampede scored early as they pressured the defense, forcing a pass across the middle.  Anne Ayotte intercepted the ball and then beat the keeper to get the first and only tally of the 1-0 adventure.

11/7/15: Stampede Best Placer

The Stampede beat Placer United 2-0 (Anne Ayotte 1, Lily Byrne 1) to end the fall NPL season with a second place 6-1-1 record. Nice job, Stampede!

10/31/15: Stampede Scare Off Bay Oaks

Although haunted by ghosts and goblins that rose from Alameda Community College's terrible turf, the locals overcame their fears and sent their opponent to a shallow grave on Halloween afternoon.  Lily "Beastly" Byrne drew first blood with an early goal from the six and two more came from Jordan "Dracula" Davis who turned the defense into zombies, assisted by Ainsley "the Creature" Carroll. McKenna "the Monster" Lutzker spooked anyone who dared to come near the evil arc and then hung her clean sheet in the howling wind only to find it later soaked with Frankenstein's blood.

Then everyone ate lots of candy.

10/18/15: Stampede Finish State Cup Rounds Strong

The locals added two more shutouts to their record as they finished the preliminary State Cup rounds against Rocklin and Loomis.  The 6-0 "Rocklin Romp", as it's now called, featured two goals each by Lily Byrne, Anne Ayotte and Jordan Davis, with assists by Ayotte, Talyssa Tucker and Skye Shaffer. They beat Loomis a day later 3-0 with Tucker and Sophie Karperos exchanging goals and assists followed by a Byrne's through ball to Niya Allen who finished things up 3-0.

10/11/15: Locals Over Manteca in NPL game

The Stampede overcame a slow start to beat the Manteca Red Stars 4-2 in NPL play. Kicking off after the opponent's early goal, Anne Ayotte noticed the opposing keeper far, far off her line and tied the score with a long ball into the open net. Ayotte later sent a through ball to Lily Byrne for the second goal followed by a close range blast from Talyssa Tucker for goal number three.  Byrne was then fouled on her way through the defense and Yasmeen Dmeiri converted the penalty for the final goal.

10/5/15: Locals beat Cal Cougars in State Cup preliminaries

The Stampede are 1-0 in the early rounds of the Norcal State Cup, having beaten the Cal Cougars 3-0 last Sunday. Anne Ayotte started off the eventual shutout in the first half with a Klay Thompson style arc that floated just beyond the opposing keeper's reach and into the upper right corner. Lily Byrne followed with a Stephen Curry inspired dribble drive to beat the defense and bury goal number two. Skye Shaffer ended things with another defense-beating effort, this time more reminiscent of Golden State forward Draymond Green.

9/28/15: Stampede finalists in Davis Premier Cup

After routing three opponents in the qualifying rounds, the Stampede fell to the USA Stars in the championship match at last weekend's Davis Premier Cup held at the Davis Legacy Soccer Complex.  In Game 1 vs. the Cal Magic, Sophie Karperos got a hat trick, scoring all three goals from near the top of the penalty box with assists from Lily Byrne and Jordan Davis. Byrne added a fourth to end it 4-0. The locals continued their offensive onslaught against the Great Basin Intensity with a 5-1 victory.  This time time Davis contributed her own hat trick and two more goals came from Karperos and Grace Carlson, assists from Anne Ayotte (1) and Niya Allen (2). Facing ARFC, Davis got her second hat trick in as many games with assists from Ayotte (2) and Byrne (1). Leah Eccles then assisted Allen for the fourth goal and Karperos capped off the shutout with a fifth tally. The Stars showed up to the final with a much higher quality of soccer than previous opponents and edged the locals 1-0.