DAVIS, Calif. – No. 1 Stanford kicked off its 2018 campaign with a convincing 5-0 win at UC Davis on Friday afternoon at Aggie Field.
"It was a great start to the season for us with some key players unavailable," said Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer Paul Ratcliffe. "We're really happy with the depth of the squad, and we needed it today. We'll look to tidy up a few things in the final third, particularly our finishing, but overall we're very pleased with todays result."
The Cardinal (1-0-0) outshot the Aggies, 20-1, taking a 2-0 lead into halftime before netting three more in the final period. Michelle Xiao, Tierna Davidson, Alana Cook and Civana Kuhlmann scored one goal apiece with the final tally going in the book as an own goal. Alison Jahansouz made one save to earn the shutout, while Carly Malatskey, Madison Haley, Beattie Goad and Abby Greubel picked up assists.
It took the Cardinal just 10 minutes to take the lead through Xiao, who benefited from the buildup play of Malatskey and Haley. Malatskey's long ball found Haley, who nutmegged her defender to tee up Xiao's clinical finish while through on goal.
19' | 2-0!!! @tierna_davidson leaves no doubt with a thunderous header off of @beattiegoad's inch-perfect cross from the left.
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) August 17, 2018
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Stanford doubled its advantage nine minutes later through a towering header by Davidson. Goad collected the ball on the left wing, beating her marker before whipping an inch-perfect cross to the head of Davidson, who redirected it past UC Davis' goalkeeper Alexis Smith.
In the second half, the Aggies (0-1-0) held Stanford scoreless for 21 minutes before Cook's convincing finish into the top left corner. Greubel, making her collegiate debut, won a difficult header outside the box from a UC Davis clearance, putting Cook through on net. Cook slammed home her fifth career goal and first since 2016 to extend the lead to 3-0.
67' | @whatz_Cookin makes it 3-0!!! @AbbyGreubel won the header outside the box, putting Cook through on goal. The senior smashed it into the top left corner, giving the keeper no chance.
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) August 18, 2018
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Kuhlmann made it 4-0 in the 78th minute, pressuring the back line and winning the ball before calmly slotting home her 10th career goal. In the 88th minute, Tegan McGrady's lofted ball into the box toward DiBiasi caused problems for Smith, who mishandled it into her own net for an own goal.
Kuhlmann led the team with four shots, DiBiasi and Cook had three and Xiao, Jaye Boissiere, who played 90 minutes at the base of midfield, and Davidson had two apiece. Stanford's streak of not allowing a goal from open play extended to 2,078:59 minutes.
Stanford returns to action on Aug. 24 for its home opener against San Francisco at 8 p.m. PT. Stanford's men's soccer team's season opener against San Jose State at 5 p.m. Tickets for all Stanford events are available at GoStanford.com.