It has been somewhat of an unusual start to the women’s soccer season at Stanford.
While the Cardinal’s 7-0-1 record and No. 2 national ranking may not be out of the ordinary for a program that has won three national championships and 10 Pac-12 titles over the past two decades under coach Paul Ratcliffe, the youth movement in Stanford’s midfield is a seemingly new development.
Ratcliffe has given three freshmen midfielders significant playing time so far in 2023, which includes routinely placing Mt. Lebanon native Mia Bhuta in his starting lineup.
“It’s very rare,” said Ratcliffe of his team’s youthful disposition. “Usually I’m trying to complement a younger player with an older player to give them the leadership skills necessary to be impactful at the collegiate level, but I think Mia has been a great leader in there and done a fantastic job.
“We’re able to play three freshmen there because they’re playing beyond their years.”
Bhuta, who became just the third early enrollee in the history of the Stanford women’s soccer program last winter, certainly fits that description after only graduating from Mt. Lebanon High School in 2023.
A veteran of international soccer before she was even eligible to vote, Bhuta became the first Indian American to represent the United States at a World Cup at any level when she captained the nation’s team at the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup in her father’s home country of India. She has now appeared in all eight of Stanford’s matches this season, starting seven, and logging 611 minutes.
“I think just being at Stanford has been an incredible experience so far,” Bhuta said. “I was lucky to be able to graduate high school a year early, and then I enrolled early in school so I started taking classes and training with the team last winter.
“I was here for two quarters in the winter and the spring,” she added. “It was really incredible. I think just being at Stanford, you’re surrounded by a culture full of people, students and athletes, that are just working hard to make an impact in the world.”
Bhuta will play her first Pac-12 match Friday night when Stanford travels to face No. 24 Washington State in Pullman, Washington.
“Mia has been incredible,” Ratcliffe said. “She wants to learn. She’s very coachable, first of all. She has an incredible work ethic and all her teammates love her and respect her. She’s doing a phenomenal job. As a freshman, to step in and play the amount of minutes, I think the impact she’s making is truly remarkable.”
Bhuta’s impact on Western Pennsylvania soccer pitches began when she started playing in youth leagues with Century United. She would go on to be a member of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds Development Academy, before playing from seventh grade through high school with Internationals Soccer Club, which is based in Medina, Ohio.
Although she may be new to the highest level of Division I women’s soccer competition, Bhuta said she has utilized all of her experience — including internationally — to get better, “day by day.”
“It’s just a constant process of every day looking at small things where you can improve and get better,” she said.
Ratcliffe said Bhuta’s seemingly innate ability to read the game has been one of her strongest attributes in making her an impactful player right away in his program.
“She covers a lot of ground,” he added. “She’s winning tackles and then her passing ability is very strong, but the biggest thing, for me, is just her overall work ethic. She’s a competitor. She wants to win, and she’ll do anything for the team that is necessary.”
For Ratcliffe, that has been exemplified in Bhuta’s willingness to play more of a defensive-minded role through her first eight games at Stanford.
“I think she’s playing to what she needs to do for our team to be successful,” Ratcliffe said. “She’s staying in that midfield zone and not kind of going forward too much. It’s been really impactful for our team.”
Bhuta has registered 15 shots, with one on goal, for the Cardinal.
“Everyone here on this team is so talented and such hard workers,” Bhuta said. “I think a big thing that I’ve been able to learn while being here is just combination play and playing off of each other and playing to the strengths of my teammates.
“I think just being around them I’ve been able to learn how to read other people’s cues and the kinds of combination plays you need to be able to beat the top-quality teams.”
Up next for Bhuta in her development is scoring her first career collegiate goal against that type of competition.
Ratcliffe said that is only a matter of time.
“I know she wants to score,” he said. “I would love to see her score. All her teammates would. I’m sure it’s going to happen, but it’s just finding the right opportunity and the right time for her.”
While Bhuta said she is not necessarily focusing on scoring goals, she is placing her attention on growing as a player and helping the Cardinal succeed.
“As a team, we want to win the championships, first winning the Pac-12 and then going on to win the NCAA championship,” Bhuta said. “That’s a big goal for me and for my team this year.
“Looking forward,” she added, “I hope to continuously earn a spot on the U-20 national team.”
From there, Ratcliffe said there is reason to believe Bhuta could someday join Pine-Richland graduate Meghan Klingenberg as a Western Pennsylvania native who earned a spot on the U.S. Women’s National team.
“I believe she has the potential to get to the full national team, no doubt about it,” Ratcliffe said. “She’s an exceptional player. I think the cool thing about choosing Stanford is she’s going to grow in all areas, not just soccer, but her leadership off the field, how she creates relationships with her teammates and just in all ways. It’s a holistic approach at Stanford. I think she’s growing so much as a person.”
For Bhuta, the prospect of continuing to develop at Stanford is an exciting one.
“For sure, definitely, my ultimate goal is to play for the full women’s national team, hopefully win a World Cup and the Olympics,” she said. “For now, my focus is here, at Stanford, playing with this team. We are in season right now, so going for the NCAA championship, that’s my big focus now.”
Editor’s note: Bhuta scored her first career NCAA goal Friday night in Stanford’s 1-0 victory against Washington State. She scored in the 10th minute.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.