The Stanford Women's Soccer team has been ranked second in the nation behind reigning national champion Notre Dame, who defeated the Cardinal 1-0 in last year's final game, in the first soccer poll of the season. Stanford is returning a veteran squad that has gone to the Women's Soccer College Cup the past two years, but senior forward Christen Press, the 2010 national player of the year, has graduated. Joining Stanford from the Pac-12 are UCLA (16), Oregon State (19), Washington (20), and USC (25). Stanford will face those teams as well as WCC powerhouses Portland (7) and Santa Clara (15) in addition to Maryland (6), Georgetown (23), and Notre Dame in non-conference play, making Stanford's only non-ranked opponents the remaining Pac-12 schools, Pacific, Northwestern, and Penn State (who is the first non-ranked team to receive votes). As a side note, if you're in the Bay Area, I highly suggest you check out Pac-1012 Plaza and Maloney Field. You might see some dramatic changes that happened during the summer.