STANFORD, Calif. – No. 23 Stanford women's soccer bounced back from a two match losing streak to down Utah in convincing fashion, 5-0, Friday at Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal (2-2-0, 1-1-0 Pac-12) had four goal scorers, led by a brace from Samantha Williams for the freshman's first multi-goal game at the collegiate level.
Civana Kuhlmann opened the outing in the third minute with a goal in the box. Catherine Paulson streaked down the touch line before delivering a cross to Kuhlmann at the center of the box, and the redshirt junior responded with an easy tap-in for the 1-0 lead.
"I think the team was disappointed in last week's performances," said Paul Ratcliffe, the Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer. "They came together, and I thought the team spirit was very strong today. They had a very strong performance in this game, and I'm very proud of the team."
Stanford controlled the attacking third all match long, firing off 15 shots – seven on target – to Utah's (1-3-2, 1-2-0 Pac-12) six.
A goal from Maya Doms would give the Cardinal a 2-0 lead heading into halftime. A shot from Williams was blocked in the center of the box, but a streaking Doms was able to come up to bury the rebound into the back of the net.
Sarah Paulson scored her first career goal off a free kick just outside of the penalty box to move the lead to 3-0, while Williams scored twice in the final 10 minutes to give the Cardinal its largest Pac-12 victory since a 5-0 win at Oregon last season (Oct. 13, 2019).
The Cardinal will return to action on Sunday to close out its series against the conference's mountain schools versus Colorado. Kickoff against the Buffaloes is set for noon on Pac-12 Network.
