Sept. 22, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford women's soccer team posted a season-high 27 shots to take down the UC Irvine Anteaters tonight at Maloney Field. The 2-0 decision marked the sixth time in the last seven games that the Cardinal has held an opponent scoreless and the sixth-straight game that the Stanford defense has held the opposing team to one shot on goal or less. The Cardinal improves to 6-3-0 with the win, while the Anteaters fall to 2-6-0.
The Cardinal dominated from the opening kick, taking four shots in the first ten minutes of play. In the fourth minute, freshman Kelley O'Hara dribbled into the middle and drilled a shot at UC Irvine goalkeeper Erin Henry. The Anteater keeper tipped the shot off the crossbar and over the goal. On the ensuing corner kick, O'Hara had another chance, but her header went wide.
In the eighth minute, junior Lizzy George got her first chance. The midfielder collected a pass from freshman Ali Riley in front of the goal, but her shot missed inches to the right. Three minutes later, freshman Alicia Jenkins was taken down just outside the box. Senior Shari Summers went straight to the goal on her indirect free kick, but the ball was saved by a diving Henry. On the ensuing corner kick, Marisa Abegg drilled a shot on frame but Henry made another diving save to keep the Cardinal off the board. Just 23 seconds later, George lined up inside the box and sent a shot to the upper right corner of the goal, but the shot was blocked by an Anteater defender.
Stanford went into the break with a 20-0 lead in the shot column, having virtually held the Anteaters out of Cardinal territory, but the score remained knotted at 0-0.
In the second half, the Cardinal changed things quickly. Within 26 seconds of the kickoff, sophomore Hillary Heath took a shot that sailed just over the net. Less than two minutes later, O'Hara connected on a George pass and sent it to the back of the net. George slid the ball to the freshman from the left side and O'Hara one-touched it past Henry to give the Cardinal a 1-0 advantage. The goal was the third by O'Hara this season and the eighth this year by a Cardinal freshman.
Eight minutes later, Stanford struck again. Heath found Summers on the left side and the senior drilled a shot off of the right post and into the goal. The goal was the fourth of the season for Summers and the ninth of her career.
Stanford took four more shots before the final horn, including two by freshman Kristin Stannard. Sophomore Austinn Freeman came up with the best chance to increase the Cardinal lead to three, but her hard drive was saved by Henry. The Anteaters only shot of the game came in the 82nd minute, when freshman Kate Berrini had a look at the goal that sailed wide to the left.
The Cardinal finished with 27 shots, ten of which were on frame. Summers led Stanford with six shots, followed by O'Hara's five. Stanford has now outscored opponents 15-1 in its last seven games.
"The team played very good soccer tonight and scored two quality goals," said Head Coach Paul Ratcliffe.
The Cardinal returns to the field on Sunday to take on San Diego State, looking to post a fourth-straight win over the Aztecs. Kickoff is set for noon at Maloney Field.