PROVO, Utah – No. 1 Stanford tied a program record with its 25th straight win after a 2-0 win at BYU on Thursday night at South Field.
The Cardinal (3-0-0) was tested throughout the night by the Cougars (1-2-1), which held a 19-16 advantage in shots and a 3-1 edge in corner kicks. Alison Jahansouz tied a career high with five saves to earn her second shutout in as many appearances, and Catarina Macario and Jojo Harber's goals proved enough for the win.
Macario's goal, a stunning 20-yard rocket from outside the area, opened the scoring in the 35th minute after the Cardinal survived waves of pressure from the Cougars – at one point, BYU was outshooting Stanford, 8-2.
Beattie Goad released Jordan DiBiasi toward the Cougars' penalty area, and DiBiasi cut it back to the lurking Macario near the edge of the area. The sophomore was clever to create a yard of space before blasting a right-footed effort past goalkeeper Sabrina Davis.
Just Cat being Cat. ?? @catarina_macario #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Women's Soccer (@stanfordwsoc) on Aug 30, 2018 at 6:49pm PDT
Abby Greubel nearly doubled the lead shortly thereafter with a left-footed shot which careened off the far post, and Macario netted seconds after the halftime whistle for nearly her second goal of the opening frame.
After chances from both sides in the second half, the substitute Harber put the game out of reach for BYU with her first career goal in the 70th minute. Tegan McGrady, who made several key interventions in defense throughout the night, won the ball back in the Cougars' penalty area before centering for Harber, whose low and powerful effort left Davis with no chance.
70' | @JojoHarber's first career goal eases some pressure. Credit @teganmcgrady9 with winning the ball back and setting her up.
— Stanford Women's Soccer (@StanfordWSoccer) August 31, 2018
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Jahansouz made two more key saves down the stretch, and the Cardinal safely saw out the win with more compact defending in the closing stages.
Top-ranked Stanford completes its road trip on Sunday when it travels to play Minnesota in Minneapolis. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. PT on Big-10 Network with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- It is the third time in program history Stanford has won 25 games in a row (2009, 2011-12).
- The program record for most games in a row unbeaten stands at 28.
- Catarina Macario has scored in 17 of her 27 appearances at Stanford – as a freshman in 2017, Macario led the nation in points (50) and assists (16).
- Harber's goal was her first career point in her 16th career appearance.
- DiBiasi's assist was her team-leading third of the season.
- Goad's assist was her second of the season, while McGrady's was good for her first point of 2018.
- Defender Tierna Davidson was absent while on duty with the United States National Team.