STANFORD, Calif. – Makenzie Fischer scored six goals for the fifth time this season and No. 2 Stanford rolled to a 16-7 home victory over No. 10 UC Irvine on Monday afternoon.
Fischer's six scores upped her season total to 57 and just six away from Stanford's single-season top 10. The junior is now tied with Katie Hansen (2004-07) for eighth in Cardinal career history with 178 goals.
Her younger sister Aria added three, Kat Klass contributed two and Stanford was never seriously threatened after it closed the first half with five unanswered goals.
Up one, 3-2, following a Megan Falcon goal for UCI late in the first quarter, Stanford began its run when the Anteaters' Tara Prentice was kicked out with 30 seconds to go in the opening period. The Cardinal called timeout, drew up a play and Madison Berggren converted with a skip to the near post.
Ryann Neushul was successful on another power play early in the second when she bounced one in from near the five-meter penalty spot (7:34) and after Emalia Eichelberger stopped a Mary Brooks shot at the defensive end, the Cardinal goalkeeper hit Kat Klass on the counter for another Stanford score.
Aria Fischer netted her first on a near-post skip with 2:37 to go until halftime and Makenzie Fischer, who had scored the first two of the game for Stanford, collected her hat trick with 1:48 on the clock in the second to push the lead to 8-2.
The Cardinal defense, which held Irvine scoreless in the second quarter, gave up four in the third, but its offense still managed to extend the lead. Stanford score six times in the period, beginning with Aria Fischer inside at two meters (6:09).
Makenzie Fischer's speed put in her great 1-on-1 position in front of the cage for her fourth (5:00) and less than a minute later Klass hit Fischer with a pinpoint, cross-pass for her fifth (4:09). Sarah Klass got on the board at 3:34 and then the elder Fischer ended her day with a rocket from distance on the restart at 1:58.
Cassidy Wiley added a goal with 66 seconds to go in the quarter and Stanford led 14-6 through three.
Eichelberger made nine saves in three quarters of work before giving way to Thea Walsh in the fourth. Aria Fischer collected her hat trick on a five-meter penalty midway through the period and Kayla Constandse ended the scoring for Stanford with 1:43 remaining in the game.
The Cardinal is on the road next weekend when it plays at No. 1 USC on Saturday, March 30 at 2 p.m. in another game televised on Pac-12 Networks.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 10 UC Irvine
March 25, 2019 • Stanford, Calif.
UCI 2 – 0 – 4 – 1 = 7
STAN 4 – 4 – 6 – 2 = 16
UC Irvine Goals: Megan Falcon 3, Mary Brooks 1, Jessica Lynch 1, Tara Prentice 1, Kayleigh Schultz 1
UC Irvine Saves: Morgan Jones 6
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 6, Aria Fischer 3, Kat Klass 2, Madison Berggren 1, Kayla Constandse 1, Sarah Klass 1, Ryann Neushul 1, Cassidy Wiley 1
Stanford Saves: Emalia Eichelberger 9, Thea Walsh 1
