Box Score
IOWA CITY, Iowa- No. 10 Stanford notched its third consecutive shutout on Sunday afternoon, winning at No. 8 Iowa 2-0 to complete a sweep of its Midwest road trip.
The Cardinal (5-1, 0-0 NorPac), which has now won five in a row since a hard-fought 2-1 double-overtime loss to No. 4 Connecticut in the season opener, knocked off its highest-ranked opponent since a 3-0 victory at No. 7 Michigan on Oct. 30, 2011.
Stanford, which blanked Central Michigan 1-0 in a neutral-site matchup yesterday in Iowa City, has managed only five goals over its last three contests after scoring five times in back-to-back games to kick off the winning streak.
However, strong defensive play has proved to be the difference. Stanford has not allowed a goal since Sept. 6, when No. 20 New Hampshire scored in the second minute of a 5-1 Cardinal victory. Anchored by Dulcie Davies’ 10th career shutout in goal on Sunday, the Stanford defense has not allowed a goal over the last 278:39.
The matchup against Iowa (4-2, 0-0 Big Ten) offered more of the same. The Cardinal scored both of its goals during an 11-minute stretch that spanned both periods while an air-tight defense limited the Hawkeyes to only five shots.
Following a penalty corner, Courtney Haldeman put Stanford in front 1-0 when she found the cage for her third goal of the season as time expired before halftime.
Kelsey Harbin converted a penalty stroke at the 45:38 mark, extending the Cardinal lead to 2-0.
Stanford owned advantages in shots (13-5) and penalty corners (8-1).
Stanford returns home this week, hosting California on Friday, Sept. 20, at 2:30 p.m. in the first of two matchups between the NorPac rivals. The Cardinal has held the upper hand in the series, winning 12 of the last 16 meetings. The contest will also be televised nationally on Pac-12 Network.
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NOTES: Stanford has won four in a row against Iowa, a program that has made 22 NCAA Tournament appearances … Courtney Haldeman and Kelsey Harbin now share the team in goals (3) with Hope Burke … Stanford finished 2-6 against top-20 opponents last year, with one of those victories a 3-2 decision over No. 10 Iowa at the Varsity Turf … Two of Kelsey Harbin’s three goals have come via the penalty stroke. The last Cardinal player to convert at least two penalty strokes in a season was Becky Dru (2-2) in 2011.