STANFORD, Calif. – It's always about the response.
Stanford women's soccer continues to control its own destiny in the Pac-12 race following a 3-1 victory over Oregon State, Friday night at Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal (5-3-0, 4-1-0 Pac-12) avenged a nonconference loss to the Beavers in Corvallis, Ore., on Feb. 28.
"I thought the team's response to last week's setback was really positive," said Paul Ratcliffe, the Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer. "We went up 3-0 in the first half off a very strong performance. We had three incredible goals, so I'm very pleased with the overall team performance."
Maya Doms opened the scoring for Stanford in the seventh minute on a counter to set the tone early. Dom took it herself after crossing midfield and lofted a goal into the upper half of the net for her second score of the season.
The counter again paved way for success, thanks to the speed of Kiki Pickett and Samantha Williams. The Beavers (2-8-0, 0-6-0 Pac-12) had a corner get headed back towards the midfield. Pickett took the ball herself, and in the matter of seconds was in the final third of the field. She dumped a quick pass off to Williams, who worked around a defender to get the ball back to the senior for the eventual game-winning goal.
Stanford closed the first half with Astrid Wheeler's first career goal in the 41st minute. The freshman came up with a rebound off a blocked shot and fired off a right-footed strike for an insurance goal. Wheeler played 41 minutes off the bench and had two shots on goal.
Katie Meyer tied her season high for saves with five on the night.
The Cardinal will close out the weekend against Oregon in another potential redemption game, Sunday. Kickoff against the Ducks will be at 1 p.m. PT, and the match will be available through the Stanford Live Stream.