March 19, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford got two goals each from freshmen Megan McClain and Daphne Patterson, and converted four free position shot opportunities as a team to cruise to an 8-4 victory over Cornell at Maloney Field on Saturday evening. The win was the second in as many nights for the Cardinal, who improves to 5-2 on the season, while the Big Red falls to 1-2.
Defense set the tone early for both squads, as the two teams struggled for possession in the midfield throughout the contest's first 10 minutes. The Cardinal was whistled for a foul with 18:40 left in the period, and Kristen Smith proceeded to put Cornell ahead with a free position score. Stanford answered back with a free position goal of its own, as McClain tallied her first score of the evening less than a minute later. Freshman Daphne Patterson added a free position goal at the 15:01 mark and the Cardinal never looked back, getting scores from junior Sarah Bach and senior Kelsey Twist to build a 4-1 lead heading into the half time break. Stanford out-shot the Big Red by an 18-6 margin in the first half, and was 3-for-6 on free position opportunities.
Cornell struck first in the second period, as Katherine Simmons scored an unassisted goal to cut the Cardinal lead to two. It was the closest that the Big Red would get, however, as Stanford reeled off four unanswered goals to put the game out of reach. McClain started the run with an unassisted goal with 25:19 remaining in the contest, and Twist assisted on Patterson's second goal of the evening to push the Cardinal lead to five. Junior Nyerr Parham tallied the fourth free position goal of the night for the Cardinal with 8:44 remaining in the contest, and junior Nina Pantano capped the Stanford scoring with a goal at the 1:01 mark.
Cornell made a run in the game's final minute, getting goals from Lindsey Moore and Noelle Dowd to bring the Big Red within four, but Cardinal goalkeeper Laura Shane collected a pair of saves to stem the Cornell attack and close out the Stanford victory.
Shane produced another outstanding evening in the cage for the Cardinal, making 10 saves on 18 Cornell shots. Goalkeeper Maggie Fava made eleven saves in net for Cornell. Stanford out-shot the Big Red by a 24-18 margin for the game.
Saturday's victory marked the first win in six all-time games against Cornell for the Cardinal. Former Stanford standout Abbi Hills, who ranks second on the Cardinal career goals chart with 112 scores, returned to The Farm as an assistant coach for the Big Red on Saturday.
Stanford travels to Nashville next weekend, where they will meet No. 5 ranked Duke and the No. 16 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday and Monday, respectively.
Date: Mar 19, 2005 Attendance: 119
CORNELL............. 1 3 - 4
STANFORD............ 4 4 - 8
CORNELL SCORING: GOALS: Moore, Lindsey 1; Smith, Kristen 1; Simmons, Katherine 1; Dowd, Noelle 1.
ASSISTS: Moore, Lindsey 1.
STANFORD SCORING: GOALS: McClain, Megan 2; Patterson, Daphne 2; Twist, Kelsey 1; Bach, Sarah 1; Pantano, Nina 1; Parham, Nyerr 1.
ASSISTS: McClain, Megan 1; Twist, Kelsey 1.
Shots
CORNELL - 18
STANFORD - 24
Ground balls
CORNELL - 16
STANFORD - 12
Saves
CORNELL - 11
STANFORD - 10
Turnovers
CORNELL - 10
STANFORD - 16