ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A late goal by Maddie Secco lifted No. 7 Stanford to a 2-1 victory against No. 8 Northwestern Friday at Ocker Field.
The Cardinal (13-1, 2-0 NorPac West) claimed its seventh consecutive victory and improved to 3-0 against top-10 opponents.
With the game knotted at 1-1 for a majority of the game, Secco broke through with the deciding goal in the 63rd minute firing a rocket of a shot in to the back of the cage. It was Secco’s fifth goal on the year.
It was tightly contested game with Stanford holding slight advantages in shots (10-9) and penalty corners (7-5).
The Cardinal found itself in a hole early when Northwestern’s (9-4, 4-0 Big Ten) Carolin Troncelliti found the back of the net with a tip-in score from the right side of the goal in the fourth minute.
Stanford responded quickly, converting a penalty corner in the 10th minute. Hannah Thiemann became the 11th Stanford player to score a goal when she tipped in a hard pass on a penalty corner set play. Kelsey Harbin and Secco assisted the score.
The Cardinal will look to extend its winning streak Sunday at 10 a.m. (PT) when it takes on Michigan.
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Notes: Stanford has won seven games in a row … The Cardinal improved to 3-0 against top-10 opponents and 4-1 against top-20 teams this year … Hannah Thiemann became the 11th Stanford player to register a goal this season … Secco has recorded an assist in four of the past five games … Stanford has held opponents to one or fewer goals in 13 of 14 games this season … Maddie Secco and Kelsey Harbin have recorded at least one point in each of the past four games … Stanford holds advantages over opponents in shots (188-88), penalty corners (81-40) and goals (38-9).