IRVINE, Calif. – Makenzie Fischer tied her career high with five goals, Julia Hermann made 10 saves and No. 1 Stanford returned from its two-week break for final exams to beat No. 7 UC Irvine, 8-3.
Fischer scored five for the second time this season and fourth of her career. She also poured in that many in the Cardinal's second game of the year against the same UC Irvine team on Jan. 27. Hermann's effort in the cage was her second double-digit save performance of the year and 12th of her career.
Fischer collected her third hat trick of the season in the opening seven minutes, scoring Stanford's first three goals. After UCI's Cara Borkovec was whistled for a penalty at 7:07, Fischer converted from five meters to give the Cardinal (12-1) an early edge. Allie Loomis equalized for the Anteaters (7-11) less than two minutes later before Fischer scored twice more at even strength to make it 3-1.
Fischer assisted Hannah Shabb for the sophomore's seventh of the season at 2:14 and after Tara Prentice was kicked out on the Cardinal's next possession, Fischer scored her fourth of the opening period in the 6-on-5.
Cara Borkovec assisted Christina Reyes with 60 seconds in the first quarter and Stanford led 5-2 after one. While the teams combined for seven goals in the first eight minutes, they'd scored just four total over the final 24.
Katie Dudley scored the second quarter's lone goal off an assist from Fischer with 4:31 on the clock.
Prentice hit Natalie Seidemann for Irvine's final tally at 2:26 in the third and Fischer would play a part in Stanford's last two scores. She rattled the cage with 17 seconds to go in the third period off an assist from Kat Klass and then the roles were reversed with 52 seconds remaining in the game when Fischer set up Klass for Stanford's eighth score.
Fischer was dominant at both ends. In addition to having a hand in all eight Cardinal goals, scoring five and assisting on the other three, the sophomore also collected a game-high three steals.
Stanford is off tomorrow and resumes action on Wednesday at noon when it plays at No. 17 UC Santa Barbara.
No. 1 Stanford at No. 7 UC Irvine
March 26, 2018 • Irvine, Calif.
UCI 2 – 0 – 1 – 0 = 3
STAN 5 – 1 – 1 – 1 = 8
UC Irvine Goals: Allie Loomis, Christina Reyes, Natalie Seidemann
UC Irvine Saves: Jenna Phreaner 9
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 5, Katie Dudley, Kat Klass, Hannah Shabb
Stanford Saves: Julia Hermann 10
