STANFORD, Calif. – Catarina Macario scored twice as No. 1 Stanford advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 win over Hofstra on Friday night at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
"I'm proud of our players for taking care of business tonight," said the Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer Paul Ratcliffe. "Hofstra is a quality team and we knew they would give us a good match. We got a goal early but couldn't break them down until the second half, so I credit our players for staying patient and continuing to attack."
It was Stanford's 15th straight win – during the streak, the Cardinal (20-1-0, 11-0-0 Pac-12) is outscoring its opponents, 65-6. Macario pushed her program-record total to 29 goals on the season with Madison Haley and Sophia Smith picking up the other two goals. Kiki Pickett provided a pair of assists while Katie Meyer and Lauren Rood combined for the shutout. Stanford pushed its season total to 91 goals, which ties a program record set in 2017.
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The Cardinal wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with Haley opening the scoring in the third minute. Sam Hiatt played Pickett into acres of space on the right wing and Pickett's cross met the head of Haley, who steered home her 11th tally of the year for the 1-0 lead.
Moments later, Macario curled a powerful shot from 25 yards off the post in the seventh minute before Haley rattled the crossbar in the 15th minute. The Pride (16-4-2, 7-0-2 CAA) settled in, defensively, and limited Stanford's chances for the remainder of the period as the Cardinal took its 1-0 lead into halftime.
After a pedestrian start to the half, Stanford exploded for three goals in under three minutes, starting with Macario's free kick in the 55th minute. Macario beat Hofstra's wall from 25 yards, striking the post en route to her 28th goal of the season.
Shortly thereafter, Macario secured her brace. Smith cut it back from the left wing to Greubel, who quickly set up Macario's second of the match from inside the box. Forty six seconds later, Pickett cut it back from the end line to the streaking Smith, who smashed it into the net to make it 4-0.
Top-seeded Stanford plays host to No. 18 Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Pac-12 Networks. Stanford opened the season with a 2-1 win at then-No 6 Penn State on Aug. 23.
Cardinal Notes
- Stanford is unbeaten in its last 40 home games, a streak that includes the entire 2017-19 seasons and dates to Nov. 18, 2016. During the streak, which ties for the seventh-longest in NCAA history, Stanford is outscoring its opponents 154-11 at home.
- Macario's 29 goals, 23 assists and 81 points are all single-season program records.
- Macario trails only Christen Press (71) for the all-time record in goals, passing Sarah Rafanelli (59) to reach 60 career goals.
- It was Macario's 10th multi-goal game of the season.
- Stanford scored four or more goals for the 13th time this season and fourth game in a row.