Burlingame Grad Plays For Top-Ranked Stanford

Burlingame High grad Taylor McCann saw a YouTube video in which someone did a bunny hop after scoring a soccer goal.

"I said I would do that if I ever scored," McCann said. "I had to follow through."

She did score and she did follow through. She was playing with the Stanford women's soccer team and it occured during the NCAA tournament.

She never practiced the move, which included taking off her shoes and using them as rabbit ears.

Stanford went on to win the NCAA national title last year, beating Duke, 1-0, in the final.

With the loss of three graduated seniors, two of them named Player of the Year by different organizations, McCann figures to get more opportunities to score.

The bunny hop move, however, has been retired from her reportaire.

The Cardinal opened their season Friday with a 6-1 victory over visiting Santa Clara, ranked No. 17 in the nation. McCann recorded a pair of assists.

Aragon High grad Kat McAuliffe played 12 minutes for the Broncos.

McCann, now a junior, has already played in two national championship matches. She's gearing up to make a run for a third straight appearance.

"It's not just ourselves," she said. "We hold each other to high standards."

Those standards have been around since Stanford began a women's soccer program and first reached the Final Four in 1993, with former Olympian Julie Foudy playing.

One of McCann's teammates two years ago was Kelley O'Hara, who will be a sideline reporter for tonight's game on the Pac-12 Networks. O'Hara just returned from London, where she helped the Americans to a gold medal at the London Games.

"It's great to be around players like that," McCann said. "They are inspiring to watch."

Hillsborough resident Hannah Farr is also playing for Stanford this season. She missed all but six games last year due to an injury and is looking forward to a healthy season.

"The seniors last year were the best I've ever played with or against," said Farr, who attended St. Ignatius Prep. "I learned a lot from them and I hope to carry that on. We just believe we're the best every year."

Farr is at Stanford on a lacrosse scholarship and plays both at Stanford. The Cardinal lacrosse team entered last year as one of the top-rated teams in the nation. An unfortunate series of mishaps led to a sub-par performance though.

Farr has the possibility of becoming an NCAA champion in two separate sports. Lacrosse will be a long shot this year.

"Initially I was not going to play lacrosse in college," Farr said. "But I always kept my options open and when the opportunity to play both arose here, I had to jump at it."

Stanford returns home on Friday, Aug. 31 against visiting Boston College at 4 p.m.

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