Sept. 2, 2007
STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman Camille Gandhi (London, England) scored two goals to pace another solid offensive attack for unbeaten Stanford, which defeated Pacific 4-2 in the NorPac opener for both squads on Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf.
Stanford improves to 3-0, matching its best start to a season since recording consecutive victories over Ohio State, Rutgers and Albany back in 2002. The Cardinal is also 1-0 in NorPac play, winning its league opener for the third straight year. Pacific falls to 1-3 overall and 0-1 in NorPac action.
Much like the Cardinal's convincing 3-1 win over Missouri State yesterday, a balanced offense again proved to be the key. Gandhi was one of three players to find the net for Stanford, which held a 16-6 edge in shot attempts and a 9-3 advantage in penalty corners. The result was even more impressive considering leading scorer senior Jess Zutz (Wilmington, Del.) was limited to just two shots in her first scoreless game of the season.
"It's really nice to get off to a great start to the season," said head coach Lesley Irvine. "I was pleased with the way we played this weekend at home and today's match should provide us with confidence as we continue conference play next week."
Picking up the offense was Gandhi, who tied the match at 1-1 with her second goal of the year before putting the Cardinal ahead for good in the second half with her third career score. Gandhi and sophomore Rachel Mozenter (Gahanna, Ohio) led Stanford with three shots apiece while freshman Xanthe Travlos (Staffordshire, England) was credited with two assists.
Senior Madison Bell (Worthington, Ohio) picked up her third win in goal, making two saves.
Pacific's Katy McDonough converted both of her shot attempts into goals. Her first score of the afternoon gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead, following an assist from Melody Demel.
Trailing for the second straight day, Stanford evened the match at 1-1 two minutes later when Gandhi found the net thanks to an assist from Travlos at the 17:47 mark.
Shortly after the start of the second period, sophomore Marlana Shile (Los Gatos, Calif.) put Stanford in front 2-1 with her first career goal. Recovering the ball after it clanked off the post, Shile knocked it past Pacific keeper Valerie Niles for the unassisted score.
However, Pacific answered back in the 42nd minute when McDonough scored unassisted off a breakaway, beating Bell as she had ventured out of the box.
Once again, the Cardinal responded quickly and went ahead 3-2 on a textbook penalty corner. Shile put the ball in play to Travlos, who tapped a short pass to Gandhi for the eventual game-winner.
Stanford tacked on an insurance goal in the 69th minute, as junior Bailey Richardson (Los Gatos, Calif.) received a trapped pass from Hillary Braun (Holland, Ohio) and fired it past the keeper to complete another penalty corner.
The Cardinal now hits the road for the first time this season, beginning with Wednesday's 4 p.m. PST contest at Longwood. Neutral site games against Davidson (Friday, Sept. 9) and Appalachian State (Sunday, Sept. 11) complete the three-game trip. All three matches will count in the NorPac standings.
Score: Stanford 4, Pacific 2
Shots: Stanford 16, Pacific 6
Penalty Corners: Stanford 9, Pacific 3
Saves: Pacific 9, Stanford 2
Scoring Summary: PAC- McDonough (Demel) at 15:43, STAN- Gandhi (Travlos) at 17:47, STAN- Shile (unassisted) at 38:05, PAC- McDonough (unassisted) at 42:10, STAN- Gandhi (Shile, Travlos) at 45:39, STAN- Richardson (Braun) at 69:09.
Records: Stanford 3-0, 1-0 and Pacific 1-3, 0-1.