IRVINE, Calif. – Makenzie Fischer poured in three of her five goals in the first quarter and No. 2 Stanford bested No. 3 UCLA, 10-4, in the semifinals of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Saturday night. The Cardinal will face top-ranked USC in tomorrow's championship at 1 p.m. after the Trojans got by No. 4 Cal, 9-8, earlier this evening.
Stanford (10-0), which scored the first eight goals in a morning quarterfinal victory over No. 10 Pacific, again had a strong start against the Bruins. The Cardinal accounted for the game's first five goals to win its fourth in a row over UCLA.
Sarah Klass got things going for Stanford when she rattled one home a little over two minutes after the opening sprint. The rest of the Cardinal's opening run belonged to Fischer, who accounted for her team's next four goals, singlehandedly matching the Bruins' game total over a six-minute span in the first and second quarters.
The junior rattled the cage at 4:38 in the first to put Stanford up 2-0, added another at 2:09 and a third on the power play with 11 seconds remaining. Fischer struck again with 6:03 on the clock in the second period to push the lead to 5-0. UCLA broke its game-opening, 14-minute scoreless drought when Bronte Halligan found the back of the cage with a little over two minutes until halftime.
After a Val Ayala goal for the Bruins made it 5-2 Cardinal midway through the third quarter, Stanford again extended its advantage with tallies from Kat Klass (2:36), Sarah Klass (1:21) and Fischer (0:42).
Maddie Musselman scored her first with 15 seconds to go in the third and converted a penalty at 5:38 in the fourth to account for UCLA's final two goals.
Ryann Neushul (6:42) and Kat Klass (2:18) slipped balls past UCLA keeper Carlee Kapana in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring and set up tomorrow's rematch of the 2018 NCAA title game with USC.
Through three games in Irvine, Fischer has kept up her incredible beginning to the season. She now has 45 goals in Stanford's 10 games and scored at least five in five of the Cardinal's last eight.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 3 UCLA
Feb. 23, 2019 • Irvine, Calif.
UCLA 0 – 1 – 2 – 1 = 4
STAN 4 – 1 – 3 – 2 = 10
UCLA Goals: Maddie Musselman 2, Val Ayala 1, Bronte Halligan 1
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 5, Kat Klass 2, Sarah Klass 2, Ryann Neushul 1
