With U.S. Soccer at crossroads, Division 1 women’s game holds steady

(Steve McLaughlin/Hartford Athletics)

When Yale head coach Rudy Meredith ponders where Division 1 women’s soccer stands in America, he points to the 333 schools competing in the NCAA, and more specifically the 2017 championship match.

Stanford downed UCLA, 3-2, in a title game that featured four national team-level players:

U.S. players Andi Sullivan and Tierna Davidson for the Cardinal, and Ashley Sanchez (U.S.) and Jessie Fleming (Canada) for the Bruins.

“I guarantee you if that Stanford team played in the World Cup, they’d be in the top 15,” said Meredith, who will enter his 24th season leading Yale in 2018. “That about sums it up with the state of our game. I don’t think a college team on the men’s side could do that. But that shows where we are compared to the rest of the world, because we’ve invested time, money and effort.”