Aug. 27, 2010
STOCKTON, Calif.- No. 20 Stanford overwhelmed Pacific 6-0 on Friday afternoon, dominating play with the same explosive offensive attack often seen during last year's record-setting campaign.
The Cardinal received outstanding balance with six different players scoring goals while thoroughly controlling tempo on both sides of the ball, making first-year head coach Tara Danielson a winner in her debut.
"This was a combined team effort and it was great to start the season with a win," said Danielson. "Six different players scoring goals is evidence of good, solid team play and I was pleased with our structure overall."
Perhaps even more encouraging was the fact that three of Stanford's top offensive threats- Xanthe Travlos, Camille Gandhi and Becky Dru - did not factor into the scoring. Instead, three players tallied their first career goal to lead the shutout effort.
Locking up an early conference victory, Stanford (1-0, 1-0 NorPac) held a commanding 14-2 edge in shot attempts and owned a 10-5 advantage in penalty corners. Pacific (0-1, 0-1 NorPac) fired one of its two shots on goal.
Friday's result wasn't much of a surprise: the Cardinal has now won eight in a row against Pacific, having not lost to the Tigers since Sept. 30, 2006. Neither was the offense, as last year's historic season saw Stanford establish single-season school records in goals (87), assists (60), points (234) and shots (410).
Stanford led 3-0 at halftime, with Katherine Swank opening the scoring at the 17:25 mark thanks to an assist from Jaimee Erickson following a penalty corner.
Freshmen Courtney Haldeman and Elise Ogle quickly made their presence felt, coming off the bench to score their first collegiate goals during a six-minute stretch late in the first half. Stephanie Byrne and Xanthe Travlos, who led all players with a game-best four shots, provided assists on those goals following deflections.
Erickson found the cage for her first goal of the year in the 48th minute, increasing Stanford's lead to 4-0.
Devon Holman scored her first career goal in the 56th minute, converting off a penalty corner with an assist from Dru. Kelsey Lloyd scored unassisted with five minutes remaining when she pounced on a loose ball in front of the net to round out the scoring.
Alessandra Moss and Julia LaSalvia combined on the shutout in goal, with Moss making one save over the first 35 minutes and LaSalvia keeping the Tigers out of the box completely in the second half.
Stanford returns to action on Friday, Sept. 3, in another conference matchup against UC Davis in the home opener at Varsity Turf. The contest will start at 7 p.m., the first of two night games to be played at the facility in 2010.
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NOTES: All 18 available players saw playing time ... Tara Danielson is the first coach in school history to earn a win in her debut since Sheryl Johnson, who guided the Cardinal to a 1-0 shutout over William and Mary back on Sept. 18, 1985 ... Stanford was opening its season away from home for the first time in 10 years ... Katherine Swank's goal was her first since Nov. 20, 2007, when she scored goal in Stanford's win over Radford in the NorPac Tournament. Swank redshirted the 2008 season and played in 12 games off the bench last year ... After ranking seventh in the country in assists last year with 14, Jaimee Erickson picked up her first of this season on Friday ... Julia LaSalvia was making her collegiate debut after redshirting last year ... Colleen Ryan and Emily Henriksson, redshirts in 2009, received starting assignments.