Sept. 10, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill.- Stanford kicked off its first road trip of the year with a key win on Thursday afternoon, defeating Northwestern 3-1 in a battle of teams looking to crack the top-20 national rankings.
Fresh off three solid victories at home to begin the year, Stanford (4-0) remained unbeaten and continued its early-season momentum. The Cardinal entered this week receiving 48 votes in the latest edition of the national rankings, three spots shy of cracking the top-20 for the first time in two years. Meanwhile, Northwestern (4-2) was receiving 71 votes in the poll, standing one spot away from No. 20 in the poll.
Stanford was averaging nearly 22 shots per game through the first three contests, but had to settle for nine attempts on Thursday. But the Cardinal has also experienced little trouble scoring goals so far, and put at least three goals in the cage for the fourth time this year.
Junior Jaimee Erickson and senior Rachel Mozenter both scored their third goal of the year while freshman Becky Dru assisted on two scores as Stanford outshot Northwestern 9-8.
Stanford took a 1-0 lead into the break following a goal from junior Xanthe Travlos in the 26th minute. After a penalty corner attempt, Dru sent a backhand pass to the left wing for Travlos, who beat Wildcat keeper Katie Lynch for her second goal of the year.
The Cardinal stretched its lead to 2-0 at the 44:44 mark following another penalty corner opportunity. Erickson was positioned near the left post and found the cage thanks to another assist from Dru.
Northwestern cut the lead to 2-1 four minutes later when Kaylee Pohlmeyer scored on a penalty stroke.
Senior Rachel Mozenter contributed an unassisted score with just over five minutes remaining, collecting a loose ball in the circle and firing it home for a score.
Sophomore netminder Alessandra Moss made five saves.
Stanford continues its road trip on Saturday, Sept. 12, battling VCU in a neutral site contest to be played at Iowa City, Iowa.
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NOTES: Stanford is off to its best start since winning its first six games to begin the 2007 season ... The Cardinal held an 8-3 edge in penalty corners over the Wildcats on Thursday. For the season, Stanford has attempted 35 penalty corners compared to just 13 for its opponents ... Northwestern converted a penalty stroke for its only goal on Thursday. That's been hard to do against Stanford keeper Alessandra Moss, who has faced five penalty strokes in her brief career and stopped three ... Five different players have recorded an assist for Stanford so far this year ... Midori Uehara, last year's leader in goals (11) and points (22), has been held scoreless through four games with just four shot attempts ... Road victories have been tough to come by for Stanford in recent seasons. The Cardinal last produced a winning record on the road in 2002 (4-3) and is just 6-14 in true road games over the last three years combined.