COLUMBUS, Ohio - No. 16 Stanford opened its three-match, four-day road swing with a 5-0 shutout of Ball State on Saturday in a neutral-site match.
Powering the Cardinal's offensive attack was Corinne Zanolli, who notched her second hat trick of the season and fifth of her career. Zanolli fired off a game-high five shot attempts and scored two of her three goals on penalty strokes during a three-minute stretch early in the second period.
Stanford (8-5, 1-0 America East), which remained unbeaten in three neutral-site games, was back on the turf for the first time since last Saturday's upset of No. 14 Syracuse.
The Cardinal owned advantages in shots (17-4) and penalty corners (4-2) and was in command throughout against Ball State (3-9, 1-2 MAC).
After scoring her first goal in the fourth minute, Zanolli converted a pair of penalty strokes to put Stanford ahead 3-0 at halftime.
Lynn Vanderstichele found the cage at the 37:30 mark, thanks to an assist from fellow rookie Rose Winter.
Jessica Welch capped the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 50th minute.
Kelsey Bing came up with two saves in goal before Hannah Santos chipped in with another while covering the final period.
Stanford remains in Columbus to face Ohio State on Sunday at 12 p.m. PT.