STANFORD, Calif. – Junior Samantha Williams scored twice and assisted on a third goal, guiding No. 21 Stanford (1-0-0) to a 5-0 victory over Sacramento State (0-1-0) on Thursday night in the Cardinal's season-opener from Cagan Stadium.
The brace is Williams' second of her career after scoring a pair of goals vs. Utah on March 5, 2021, while the five points are a new career high.
The native of Laguna Beach, Calif. had her hand in each of the final three goals for the Cardinal on Thursday. Williams opened her stat sheet by dribbling for 20 yards, cutting inside, back outside, and smashing home a goal to the far post in the final minute of the first half to send Stanford into the locker room with a 3-0 advantage.
Despite dominating possession throughout the match, the Cardinal did not tack on in the second half until the 83rd minute when Williams received a short corner and sent a curling ball into the box that found the head of Julia Leontini for her first goal of the year.
Just as she did in the waning minutes of the first half, Williams turned in a late goal in the second, making another lengthy run in the 89th minute and slotting a perfect shot into the back of the net for her second score of the night.
The Cardinal took 37 total shots in the victory, putting 20 on frame and forcing Sac State goalkeeper Mia Shalit into 15 saves. On the other side, Stanford limited the Hornets to just four total shots, none of them landing on frame.
Making her second career start, junior Ryan Campbell played the first 58 minutes of the match in goal for the Cardinal before giving way to sophomore Haley Craig to finish off the shutout victory.
Junior Amy Sayer got the scoring started for the Cardinal in the 15th minute, receiving a pass from senior captain Sierra Enge, taking one touch to her right, and firing a shot past the Hornet keeper for the first goal of the season.
Freshman Lumi Kostmayer was turned away on her first few collegiate chances, but eventually cracked the code in the 32nd minute, intercepting a pass intended for the keeper and sliding to chip it over the netminder and into the back of the goal for her first career points.
Stanford will now prepare for an exhibition match on Sunday at 7 p.m. vs. Team China. Single-game tickets for the match are sold out, but Cardinal W passholders can still gain access to the contest.
Notables:
Williams is the first Cardinal to post a multi-goal game in a season-opener since Catarina Macario scored a pair at No. 6 Penn State on August 23, 2018 … the 37 shots are the most for the Cardinal since putting up 44 vs. San Diego State on August 29, 2021 … Stanford extended its unbeaten streak in season-openers to 16 matches (15-0-1) … has now won 12 consecutive openers and is 33-4-2 all time in first matches (17-2-1 under Paul Ratcliffe) … Stanford owns a 90-5-8 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season … the Cardinal has won 36 consecutive matches over CSU schools and owns a 49-0-1 record over the last 50 against California state schools … Stanford improves to 8-0-0 all time against Sacramento State … five goals are the most in a season-opener since defeating UC Davis 5-0 on August 17, 2018
