March 4, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford offense showed it was firing from all cylinders right from the get-go Sunday, scoring the first nine goals of an eventual 17-5 win over No. 8 UC Irvine at Avery Aquatic Center.
Stanford (13-1) outscored Long Beach State and UC Irvine by a 31-9 margin over its two wins this weekend. The second-ranked Cardinal travels to Hawaii later this week to take on the Rainbow Wahine in an MPSF contest at 8 p.m. PT March 10.
Six players posted multi-goal games for the Cardinal, while in all eight found the back of the cage. Senior Alyssa Lo led the way with four goals, while freshman Ashley Grossman posted a hat trick with three. Kaley Dodson, Alexis Lee, Kaitlyn Lo and Kiley Neushul each scored twice, while Cassie Churnside and Jillian Garton netted a goal apiece.
Junior Kate Baldoni started in the cage, making five saves and conceding just two goals in the first half. Freshman Emily Dorst took over in the cage at the start of the second half and stopped a shot.
An eight-goal opening period gave the Cardinal firm control over Sunday's contest. Neushul netted twice over the first two and a half minutes, then Kaitlyn Lo and Dodson scored 59 seconds apart to make it 4-0 with 4:01 to go in the frame.
Garton scored with 2:54 to go, then, over the final 1:23 of the period, Stanford would get goals from Churnside, Alyssa Lo and Grossman to keep up the goal-a-minute pace.
Dodson's goal 26 seconds into the second frame made it nine in a row for Stanford, a run that was snapped when UC Irvine's Kelsey Klatt got one past Baldoni with 7:02 to go in the half. However, after a few minutes of relative quiet, Stanford would rip off three straight goals over a 2:25 span to take a commanding 12-1 lead.
Hillary Estrada would grab a goal for the Anteaters before halftime, and while she and Jessy Cardey would score two more for UC Irvine in the third period, Stanford was just too much on this day.
Three Cardinal goals in the third period, including two from Alyssa Lo, were followed by goals from Lee and Grossman in the fourth as Stanford captured its 13th win of the season.
UC Irvine - 0 2 2 1 = 5
Stanford - 8 4 3 2 = 17
Stanford Goal Scorers: A. Lo 4, Grossman 3, K. Dodson 2, Lee 2, K. Lo 2, Neushul 2, Churnside, Garton
UC Irvine Goal Scorers: Estrada 2, Cardey, Klatt, Kipp
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 5, Dorst 1 (S); Avetoom 9 (UCI)