Oct. 24, 2010
STANFORD, Calif.- No. 19 Stanford matched its season scoring output on Sunday afternoon at the Varsity Turf, blanking Pacific 6-0 for the second time this year.
Playing on Senior Day under a constant light rain during the entire game, the Cardinal (10-5, 4-1 NorPac) received goals from six different players and fired off a season-high 37 shots in a victory featuring trademark balance on offense.
Pacific (2-13, 0-5 NorPac) has dropped five straight games since a two-game winning streak at the end of September.
The victory keeps Stanford's hopes alive for a share of the NorPac regular season title. The Cardinal will face California (8-7, 5-0 NorPac) in Berkeley on Friday, Oct. 29, in the regular season finale for both teams. The Golden Bears are in the driver's seat after picking up a 2-1 win back on Sept. 19 in the earlier meeting.
Sunday's contest was nothing more than a tune-up for Stanford, which overwhelmed Pacific with four second-half goals while holding decisive advantages in shots (37-6) and penalty corners (15-3).
Stanford built a 2-0 lead before halftime. Devon Holman opened the scoring in the first minute of the game, finding the cage after an assist from Camille Gandhi. Courtney Haldeman tacked on her third goal of the year at the 23:46 mark, punching in a loose ball following a scrum with an assist from Katie Mitchell.
After piling up 14 shots in the first half, Stanford erupted for 23 attempts over the final 35 minutes. Becky Dru's team-leading seventh goal of the year came off a textbook penalty corner score in the 45th minute with assists from Kelsey Lloyd and Stephanie Byrne.
Playing in their final home game, seniors Xanthe Travlos, Gandhi and Katherine Swank all tallied goals over the last 20 minutes. Travlos later assisted on Swank's goal to round out the scoring at 6-0.
Travlos led all players with nine shots, tying her career-high total. Gandhi added six shots while Dru and Swank both fired off five attempts.
Goalkeepers Alessandra Moss and Julia LaSalvia split time in goal, with Moss playing the first 39:50 and making two saves followed by LaSalvia closing out the contest and making two stops.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NOTES: Stanford posted a 3-2 mark in five home games this year ... The Cardinal has registered three shutouts this year, all of the games resulting in 6-0 victories ... Seniors Heather Alcorn, Katherine Donner, Jaimee Erickson, Camille Gandhi, Alessandra Moss, Katherine Swank and Xanthe Travlos were honored in a pregame ceremony. The senior class has chalked up 49 victories, three straight NorPac Tournament championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances ... Stanford has won nine in a row against Pacific, having not lost to the Tigers since 2006 ... Stanford's 37 shots were the most since firing off 46 attempts against Appalachian State on Nov. 5, 2009 ... The Cardinal has reached the 10-win mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time since a three-year stretch of at least 10 victories from 2000-02 ... Stanford has scored 46 goals this year (21 in the first half, 23 in the second half, 2 in overtime).