Sept. 11, 2010
KENT, OHIO- Stephanie Byrne put away the game-winning goal seven minutes into overtime, lifting No. 19 Stanford to a 2-1 victory over Iowa on Saturday morning in a neutral site contest played at Kent, Ohio.
The Cardinal (4-1, 2-0 NorPac) has opened its three-game, four-day road swing with back-to-back victories, and will attempt to complete a sweep when it faces struggling Robert Morris on Monday afternoon.
Byrne has quietly built a reputation as one of Stanford's top scorers in the clutch, most notably netting the game-winning overtime goal against No. 20 Boston University in last year's NCAA Play-In game to put the Cardinal in the NCAA Tournament. On Saturday afternoon, she scored unassisted at the 76:36 mark when she converted on a rebound from three yards out.
Stanford once again controlled tempo throughout the game, outshooting Iowa 14-5 and holding a 9-4 advantage in penalty corners.
The extremely physical contest featured four yellow cards and two green cards, with Iowa (1-4, 0-0 Big Ten) responsible for five of those six infractions.
Saturday's contest was very similar to last year's 3-2 overtime victory against the Hawkeyes in Iowa City. Stanford won that game when Jaimee Erickson scored the game-winner 20 seconds into the extra session.
Xanthe Travlos scored her second goal in as many days, breaking a scoreless tie in the 50th minute unassisted with a shot just inside the arc on the left wing.
It looked as if Stanford would be on its way to another shutout before Danielle Peirson evened the game with less than two minutes remaining. Jessica Barnett fed Peirson, who tapped in a deflection near the cage.
Byrne then fired the game-winning goal past Iowa keeper Kathleen McGraw to secure the win.
Becky Dru led all players with five shot attempts, while Byrne and Travlos chipped in with three.
Aside from the late goal, Alessandra Moss was tough in goal once again, making three saves.
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NOTES: Stephanie Byrne has scored three goals in three career games against Iowa ... For the first time this year, Stanford did not score a goal during the first 35 minutes ... Stanford's 14 shots came from a collection of five different players ... Becky Dru leads the Cardinal with 22 shot attempts ... The Cardinal has displayed a stout defense through five games, allowing only six goals, 19 penalty corners and 30 shot attempts overall.