Sept. 6, 2009
STANFORD, Calif.- Sophomore Stephanie Byrne's third career multi-goal game highlighted a dominating offensive attack, as Stanford routed Kent State 7-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Turf.
The Cardinal received goals from six different players, held a commanding 25-11 edge in shot attempts and built a 3-0 lead by halftime.
Stanford is now 3-0 heading into its first road swing of the year, a four-game stretch that kicks off at Northwestern on Thursday, Sept. 10. Kent State (2-3), which entered the preseason just four spots shy of a national top-20 ranking, has lost two of its last three.
"Our offense has been clicking despite only scoring four goals in the first two games, so it was great to finally cash in some of those opportunities today," said head coach Lesley Irvine. "This was also a great result for us in that we received contributions from everyone who played today."
Stanford won its first two games in large part to a powerful offense that produced gaudy shot totals and just enough goals. On Sunday, the Cardinal's offensive pressure resulted in its highest scoring output since a 7-0 shutout of Pacific last year.
Freshman Becky Dru tallied her first collegiate goal at the 17:07 mark, putting Stanford up 1-0 when she cleaned up a loose ball near the cage after the Cardinal could not convert its penalty corner opportunity.
Less than two minutes later, Byrne scored her first goal of the year to give Stanford a 2-0 lead when she beat Kent State goalie Caroline Suitch low and to the right following a pass from junior Xanthe Travlos.
Junior Jaimee Erickson closed out the first-half scoring barrage for Stanford, making it 3-0 at the 34:46 mark when she lofted a arching shot into the goal.
Stanford continued to apply pressure in the second half, resulting in four more goals and two in the first 10 minutes. In the 41st minute, senior Midori Uehara set up Byrne for her second score of the game and two minutes later, Travlos posted her first goal of the year when she collected a rebound off a deflection inside the circle.
Stanford increased its lead to 6-0 at the 60:27 mark, as freshman Katie Mitchell scored her first collegiate goal when she eluded multiple defenders and beat backup goalkeeper Kristin Willders with a quick, low shot.
Kent State's Nicole Leach answered 24 seconds later, taking a pass from Sheridan Edwards and firing it through a scrum near the cage. Leach's goal cut the Stanford lead to 6-1, and was the first score allowed by Stanford goalkeeper Alessandra Moss over the last 197:05.
Two minutes after sitting out a five-minute stretch for a yellow card, senior Rachel Mozenter returned to the game and capped the scoring with her second goal of the year.
Dru and sophomore Camille Gandhi led Stanford with four shots apiece while Kent State's Debbie Bell ripped off a game-best five shots, all of which were on target.
Moss made eight saves in goal for Stanford, earning her third victory of the year.
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NOTES: Stanford and Kent State were meeting for the first time since 2002 ... Stanford is off its best start since opening the 2007 campaign with a 6-0 mark ... Through the first three games, Stanford has outscored its opponents 11-2 and outshot its foes 65-23 ... 11 different Stanford players registered at least one shot attempt in Sunday's match ... Stanford has won six consecutive home matches dating back to last year ... After redshirting the 2008 season, freshman Devon Holman entered the game in the second half and chipped in with a shot on goal ... Freshman Alysha Sekhon appeared in her first collegiate game ... The last time Stanford scored four goals in a half was during last year's 7-0 win over Pacific on Sept. 27, as the Cardinal found the cage four times in the second half.