Oct. 7, 2012
BOULDER, Colo. - Goals by Mariah Nogueira and Alina Garciamendez within 37 seconds of each other late in the second half enabled No. 2 Stanford to rally to a 2-1 women's soccer victory over Colorado on Sunday in Pac-12 play.
Stanford (11-1-1 overall, 5-0 Pac-12) hadn't trailed since Aug. 26, but found itself behind after a goal by Colorado's Emily Paxton 19 seconds before halftime.
In an effort to equalize, Stanford pushed defensive midfielder Nogueira, and defenders Garciamendez and Rachel Quon into the attack. The Cardinal was rewarded at 78:07 when Nogueira slipped a left-footed shot into the upper left corner from 12 yards. It was her team-leading sixth goal of the year, but first with her feet.
At 78:44, central defender Garciamendez poked the ball with her right foot past onrushing goalkeeper Annie Brunner and inside the right post from close range. It was her fourth goal of the season and came on a pass from Quon.
The victory extended Stanford's conference winning streak to 36 and prevented Colorado (6-5-3, 0-4-1) from earning its first-ever Pac-12 victory since joining the conference last year.
Nogueira has made a habit of scoring clutch goals. Of her team-high 19 career goals, 14 have tied the score or put Stanford ahead. She also has 10 game-winning goals. Until Sunday, all of her goals this season had been on headers, mostly as a target on corner kicks.
Nogueira's goal was set up by the hard work of outside right back Laura Liedle, who kept possession, worked a combination with Courtney Verloo, and sent a pass into the penalty area. Nogueira collected the ball and turned on a defender to create space for her shot.
Stanford resumes play Thursday at Arizona in match broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.