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College Cup Bound

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STANFORD, Calif. – Top-seeded Stanford advanced to its eighth College Cup on Friday with a 4-0 win over No. 10 Penn State at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.

"Today definitely wasn't easy. Penn State is a fantastic team and they've had a great season," said head coach Paul Ratcliffe. "We started so fast and scored some incredible goals, but we also possessed the ball really well to kill off the game. Overall, it was a very strong all-around team performance."

The Cardinal (22-1-0, 11-0-0 Pac-12) was on top, 3-0, after 12 minutes, stretching the lead to 4-0 in the 25th minute when Kyra Carusa stabbed home an inch-perfect through ball from Catarina Macario. Carusa, Macario and Jaye Boissiere each finished with one goal and one assist, and Andi Sullivan added a goal for Stanford.

Alison Jahansouz picked up the win in 75 minutes of play, finishing with two saves – her stop in the eighth minute was a fantastic reaction save to preserve Stanford's 1-0 lead at the time.

Macario opened the scoring with one of her trademark free kicks in the second minute. With Stanford threatening the penalty area, the Nittany Lions (15-5-4, 6-2-3 Big 10) conceded the foul after a handball just outside the box. Macario got the ball up and over the wall with a powerful curled shot into the top corner, well away from the reach of goalkeeper Rose Chandler.

Nine minutes later, Stanford doubled the lead through senior captain Andi Sullivan, who was immense in midfield for her final performance at Cagan Stadium. Boissiere stood over a free kick in a dangerous area, playing it short to an open Sullivan in space. Sullivan beat two defenders before sweeping home a smart finish inside the far post with her weaker left foot.

Next, it was Boissiere's turn to get on the score sheet after a tireless run by Carusa to set her up. Carusa took on her marker on the edge of the area, reaching the end line and laying it off to Boissiere for a precise one-time finish inside the far post.

On 25 minutes, Carusa made it 4-0 off a ridiculous feed from Macario. Macario's slide-rule pass rolled out of reach of Penn State defenders, and Carusa got a boot on the ball to slide it under Chandler for Stanford's fourth of the day.

The Cardinal outshot the Nittany Lions 16-6, including a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal and a 5-2 lead in corner kicks. It was Stanford's NCAA-leading 17th shutout of the season, and the 14th home shutout in 15 appearances.

The Cardinal returns to action next week in the College Cup semifinals in Orlando, Florida. Live coverage of both the semifinals and finals will air on ESPN, and live statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.

Cardinal Notes

  • Stanford's 86 goals on the season are the most in program history and most in Division I since Virginia netted 88 in 2014.
  • The Cardinal's win streak stretches to 20 games – during the streak, Stanford is outscoring opponents 75-4. 
  • Stanford completes its 15-game home schedule in 2017 with a perfect 15-0-0 record. In 1,260 minutes of play, Stanford did not trail at home this season.
  • This is Stanford's eighth College Cup appearance and seventh under Paul Ratcliffe.
  • Stanford owns a perfect 2-0-0 all-time record against the Gamecocks. Stanford's last meeting with South Carolina was during the 2013 NCAA Tournament – the Cardinal advanced to the NCAA third round with an overtime 1-0 win.
  • Since Alana Cook and Tierna Davidson started starting games at center back, Stanford is 20-0-0 with four goals conceded.
  • Macario's 47 points lead Division I, passing Hayley Younginer of Wofford (46 points). Her tally ties Lindsay Taylor (2011) for fifth on the all-time points list, while her 17 goals ranks sixth, all-time, ahead of Sarah Rafanelli, Christen Press and Taylor (16 points).
  • Macario's 13 assists tie for the lead, nationally, and ties Marcie Ward (2002), Julie Foudy (1992) and Kelley O'Hara (2009) for fourth in program history.