ANN ARBOR, Mich. - No. 1 Stanford built a comfortable halftime lead and cruised to a 16-6 victory over No. 13 Wagner on Friday morning in the opening round of the NCAA Championship.
Makenzie Fischer and Ryann Neushul scored four goals apiece while Aria Fischer chipped in with three, fueling Stanford's offense as the Cardinal booked a spot in Saturday's semifinals against No. 4 UCLA. Hannah Constandse contributed a game-high four assists.
The nation's only program to have participated at every NCAA Championship since the event's inception in 2001, Stanford (23-2, 5-1 MPSF) is seeking its eighth NCAA title in school history and first since defeating USC in 2019. The Cardinal, which has advanced to 10 of the last 11 NCAA finals, also captured national championships in 2017, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011 and 2022.
Stanford has won nine in a row, holding every opponent during that stretch to less than 10 goals. Wagner (32-4, 16-0 MAAC), one of the top offenses in the nation featuring four players with at least 75 goals, held a 33-31 shot advantage and scored the game's first goal but otherwise never posed a serious threat.
The Cardinal improved to 15-0 away from home this season (6-0 away, 9-0 neutral). Four of those matches were played in Ann Arbor, as Stanford enjoyed an unbeaten run at the Michigan Invitational back on Jan. 29-30 to open the season, including a 14-5 victory over host Michigan.
Leading 3-2 late in the first period, Stanford ripped off five consecutive goals to take a 7-2 lead at the 6:42 mark of the second period following the first of two goals from Christina Hicks.
The Cardinal continued to pressure, with Neushul, Makenzie Fischer and Hicks scoring in the final five minutes to lead 12-4 at halftime.
Makenzie Fischer gave Stanford its first double-digit lead at 14-4 in the third period before Madison Stamen and Eleanor Facey countered Wagner's final two scores.
Maya Avital started and made 13 saves in goal, passing Jackie Frank to move into fifth place on the Cardinal's all-time single-season list with 196. Hicks covered the final 4:15 in goal.
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer (4), Ryann Neushul (4), Aria Fischer (3), Christina Hicks (2), Hannah Constandse (1), Eleanor Facey (1), Madison Stamen (1)