Oct. 2, 2009
Media Guide | Soza Says | Statistics
PHILADELPHIA- Looking to turn the page following last weekend's 4-3 upset loss at California, No. 14 Stanford responded with perhaps its best offensive performance of the year.
Senior Midori Uehara registered the second hat trick for a Stanford player this season and the Cardinal fired off a season-high 27 shot attempts, resulting in a 7-2 victory over Temple in Philadelphia.
The Cardinal, which has now matched its 2008 win total at this year's midway point, would have posted its third shutout of the season if not for a pair of Temple goals during the final two minutes.
Regardless, it's another convincing victory for Stanford (9-1, 2-1 NorPac), which started its three-game, four-day Pennsylvania road trip on a positive note. After reeling off a program-best eight straight wins to open the year, Stanford was coming off a 4-3 loss against rival Cal in Berkeley five days ago.
Stanford is now 4-1 away from The Farm this year, a sharp contrast to recent years considering the Cardinal had not posted a winning record on the road since a 4-3 mark in 2002.
Temple (3-9, 0-0 Atlantic-10) provided little resistance. Mired in a five-game losing streak entering the game, the Owls trailed 1-0 after one minute had ticked off the clock and surrendered three goals in each period.
Stanford's returning leading scorer from a year ago, Uehara had scored just two goals and attempted 11 shots prior to Friday's contest. But she is a dangerous scorer who can explode at any time (see last year's career-high four-goal effort in a 7-0 win over Pacific), and the Owls witnessed another terrific performance.
Uehara's first score came 54 seconds into the match to give Stanford a 1-0 lead.
At the 24:39 mark, sophomore Stephanie Byrne collected her third goal of the year for a 2-0 edge when she put home a rebound following a save of junior Katherine Donner's only shot attempt.
Three minutes later, Uehara found the cage again for her second goal following an assist from Byrne.
Stanford took a 3-0 lead into the lockerroom thanks to a 12-3 advantage in shot attempts.
Uehara scored her third goal of the match less than four minutes into the second period, scoring unassisted off a rebound.
Freshman Becky Dru tallied her fourth goal of the season two minutes later for a 5-0 Stanford cushion. Dru's score came as the result of a penalty corner, with junior Jaimee Erickson and senior Nora Soza providing assists.
Stanford has been impressive on penalty corner opportunities this year, and held a 9-3 edge over Temple.
The Cardinal tacked on two unassisted insurance goals late in the second half, with junior Heather Alcorn scoring for the first time in 50 career games and senior Marlana Shile finding the cage for the first time since 2007.
Temple's Bridget Settles scored unassisted in the 68th and 69th minutes, avoiding the shutout and providing a flash of offensive life for the Owls.
Stanford goalkeeper Alessandra Moss made five saves and denied a penalty stroke attempt from Charise Young in the final seconds. One of the nation's top penalty stroke stoppers, Moss has now allowed opponents to convert just two of six opportunities in her career.
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NOTES: Stanford and Temple were matching up for the first time since 1999. The Cardinal has won three of the four all-time meetings ... Stanford's most recently reached double-digit victories in 2007 with a 13-8 mark ... The Cardinal also scored seven goals against Kent State back on Sept. 6, winning 7-1. Stanford is averaging four goals per game ... Stephanie Byrne led all players with five shot attempts, while Camille Gandhi and Midori Uehara both chipped in with four ... Of the 13 goals Stanford has allowed this year, five have come in the game's final 10 minutes.