Sept. 1, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford women's soccer team posted its 18th consecutive win over the San Francisco Dons tonight, with a 3-0 victory at Maloney Field. The home-opening win improves the Cardinal to 1-2 on the season, while the Dons fall to 0-3.
Stanford took control of the match from the beginning, keeping the ball in Don territory for the majority of the game. The first clear chance for Stanford came just over 11 minutes in, when Marisa Abegg connected on a Hillary Heath corner kick. San Francisco goalkeeper Kelly Pohle made a diving save to prevent the early goal. Four minutes later, the Cardinal was back on the attack. Successive shots by Shari Summers and Abegg were blocked by the Don defense, before Heath knocked the ball away from Pohle and sent a slow-roller toward the open net. A USF defender slid through the box, deflecting the shot and preventing the Cardinal goal.
The Dons could not hold off the aggressive Stanford offense much longer, however. Cardinal junior Lizzy George found a hole in the Don defense in the 32nd minute and served the ball to Summers on the right side. The senior sent a header back across the goal and into the back of the net to give the Cardinal a 1-0 advantage.
Stanford continued its offensive attack after the restart, but was unable to net another goal before the half, despite two more shots by Summers. Stanford went into the break having taken 10 shots to the Dons' two.
Stanford returned to the field and continued to test the San Francisco defense. George led the Cardinal assault with three shots in the first five minutes of the half. On her third try, George collected a rebound off of the Don goalkeeper and sent a low drive to the back of the net.
Stanford struck again in the 71st minute, when freshman Kristin Stannard sent a Kate Mannino pass off the crossbar and into the goal. Stannard became the first member of Stanford's talented freshman class to make a mark in the Cardinal scoring column.
Although Stanford dominated the possession, Don freshman Samantha Brand made a series of strong moves to the goal in the first half. Cardinal freshman Katie Riley, who earned her second start in the match, consistently thwarted any Don attempts to get within scoring range.
Stanford finished the match with 21 shots, while allowing the Dons just six looks at the goal. Summers led all players with seven shots and George led the team with five shots and three points on the night.
"It was a good team effort tonight," said head coach Paul Ratcliffe. "We scored some quality goals and hopefully this match will give us confidence going into the San Luis Obispo match."
Stanford returns to Maloney on Sunday, when the team will attempt to defend its undefeated streak against the Cal Poly Mustangs. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.