SALT LAKE CITY – Kyra Carusa scored two second-half goals in less than a minute to help lead Stanford to a 4-1 victory at Utah in its conference opener Friday.
Facing a 1-0 deficit after the first half, the Cardinal (7-2, 1-0 Pac-12) offense exploded for four second-half goals to remain unbeaten in Pac-12 openers since 2000 with a 12-0-3 record.
Stanford leveled the score in the 64th minute when Averie Collins sent a cross from the right side to Carusa in the center of the box. Carusa fought off a pair of Utah (3-4-3, 0-1 Pac-12) defenders and sent a left-footed shot to the right corner of the goal. It was the first goal of Carusa's collegiate career.
Carusa struck again just 57 seconds later after Stanford earned a corner kick. Sullivan sent in the cross to Stephanie Amack who headed a pass to Carusa in front of the goal. With her back to the goal, Carusa delivered a nifty back-heel flick into the right corner of the goal for her second score of the day.
Collins scored the first goal of her collegiate career in the 86th minute to extend Stanford's lead to 3-1. With Utah rushing to speed up play and generate offense, the Utes' goalkeeper tried passing to her center defender on a goal kick. Collins made a heads-up play to intercept the pass and drill a shot into the top right corner of the goal.
Ryan Walker-Hartshorn scored in the final second of the game to put an exclamation point on the Cardinal's victory. She received a pass from Sullivan, turned and placed a shot into the left side of the goal for her second on the year.
Despite the flurry of offense in the second half, Stanford had trouble getting going in the first half. The Cardinal was caught offside five times and managed just three shots – its fewest in a half this season.
Utah took a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute when Katie Rogers capitalized on a loose ball off a corner kick for her second goal of the year. Paola Van Der Veen sent in the corner kick that bounced off a couple players in the box until it found its way to Rogers' foot near the penalty spot. Rogers volleyed a shot to the top right corner of the goal.
Jane Campbell made a crucial save in the 54th minute, making a leaping stop to her left to deny a Utah shot from the top of the 18-yard box to keep to keep the Utes' advantage at 1-0. Campbell's save kept Stanford within striking distance and the Cardinal responded with the equalizing goal 10 minutes later.
Stanford dominated the run of play in the second half, reeling off 12 shots and generating two corner kicks.
The Cardinal looks to carry its momentum into next weekend's matchups against Arizona State on Friday at 7 p.m. (PT) and Arizona on Sunday at 11 a.m. Friday's game will be streamed live online and Sunday's game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.
Cardinal Notes
- Kyra Carusa and Averie Collins each scored the first goals of their collegiate careers.
- All five of Stanford's freshman field players have scored at least one goal this season.
- Stanford's four goals ties its season high when it defeated Boston College 4-0 (Aug. 28).
- The Cardinal has outshot its opponents in 10-of-11 games and held a corner kick advantage in each game.
- Stanford holds advantages over opponents in shots (167-52) and corner kicks (72-14) this season.