STANFORD, Calif. – Freshman Allie Montoya scored a pair of first-half goals and No. 14 Stanford (10-2-1, 3-1-0 Pac-12) held off Washington (8-2-2, 2-2-0 Pac-12) to earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory in front of a sell-out crowd from Cagan Stadium on Thursday night.
For Montoya, the brace was her second of the season after scoring a pair in a 2-0 shutout of No. 8 Penn State on September 1. The two goals pushed Montoya's season total to five – second on the team behind fellow freshman Lumi Kostmayer with nine.
Montoya, who totaled five shots in the match, struck first in the 23rd minute as she weaved her way through the Washington defense and laced a right-footed shot off a defender and into the back of the net to make it 1-0.
A brilliant run of play for the Cardinal resulted in the second goal in the 35th minute as Samantha Williams played a ball down the right wing for senior Sierra Enge. Enge crossed a pass into the box where Montoya one-timed it into the back of the net to record the brace.
The Cardinal finished the first half with a 12-4 advantage in shots, while Washington goalkeeper Olivia Sekany managed four saves in the opening stanza.
Playing a physical brand of soccer, Washington swarmed the Cardinal back line, but Stanford's defense held up strong throughout the first half. The Huskies started to put things together in the second half, compiling 12 total shots in the period and drawing to within a goal in the 72nd minute when Kelsey Branson headed home her third of the season on a set piece.
The Huskies nearly scored their first goal in the 57th minute when Karlee Stueckle had a one-on-one chance against Ryan Campbell. The Cardinal goalkeeper charged from her net and made a sliding stop to turn away the first opportunity. A follow-up shot from Mckenzie Weinert ensued, but defender Kellie Pagador was there to clear that chance away from the endline.
Including the spectacular save to deny Stueckle, Campbell totaled four saves in the victory.
The Cardinal continued to earn chances of its own in the second half, totaling 22 shots in the match (12 on frame), but Sekany came up with a handful of quality stops en route to finishing the match with 10 saves and keeping the Cardinal off the board in the latter half of the contest.
The physical match saw the Cardinal give 13 fouls, while Washington was whistled for five.
Stanford will remain at home this Sunday when it hosts No. 21 Washington State at 12 p.m. The match on Sunday will kick off a string of breast cancer awareness matches in which the Cardinal will don pink jerseys that will eventually be auctioned off with proceeds benefitting the Women's Health Center at Stanford Medicine.
