STANFORD, Calif. – Hosting No. 10 Duke in a highly-anticipated top-10 matchup, No. 3 Stanford turned in a complete effort to record a 4-0 shutout victory in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,154 from Cagan Stadium on Saturday night.
With the win, Stanford moves to 5-0-0 on the season, while the Blue Devils drop to 2-2-0.
Stanford struck early on Saturday night, as Andrea Kitahata received a pass from Kennedy Wesley on one bounce, controlled it at the penalty spot and slid it past Leah Freeman for her second goal of the year in the 11th minute.
The Cardinal extended the lead to 2-0 in the 26th minute as freshman Mia Bhuta was taken down in the box for a penalty. Wesley stepped to the spot and converted for her second goal of the year.
Stanford took the 2-0 lead into the locker room at halftime thanks in part to a spectacular stop from Ryan Campbell off a deflection from Stanford's back line in the 44th minute. The senior goalkeeper, who recorded her 10th career shutout, saw a free kick come off the head of Wesley and angle toward the post where she dove and batted it away from danger.
Campbell finished the match with two saves while facing six Duke shots. Freeman totaled four saves in the loss for the Blue Devils.
Maya Doms moved into a tie with Jasmine Aikey for the team lead in goals with three when she got on the end of an Aikey corner and volleyed a right-footed shot toward the back post for a score in the 57th minute.
On a night filled with spectacular goals from the Cardinal, Stanford may have saved the best for last as Nya Harrison went coast-to-coast to score her second career goal – and the first since August 29, 2021 vs. San Diego State. Following a pass from Wesley, Harrison controlled a ball in the Stanford defensive end, dribbled forward and kept eating up space as the Duke defense retreated. Nearing the top of the box, Harrison unleashed a shot from 20 yards that beat Freeman and made it 4-0 Stanford.
The Cardinal will hit the road for the next two matches, traveling to VCU and Georgetown next week. Stanford will meet VCU on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT before clashing with Georgetown on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT.
GAME NOTES
- The match was the first against an ACC opponent since Stanford announced it would join the conference in the summer of 2024.
- The Cardinal improves to 9-2-1 all-time against Duke.
- Stanford outshot Duke 14-6 while winning the corner kick battle 4-0.
- Now 5-0 to start the season, and with the 2022 campaign coming to an end via a penalty kick shootout, the Cardinal is unbeaten in its last 17 matches (15-0-2) and has posted nine shutouts in the last 13 contests.
- All three of Stanford's shutouts this year have been 4-0 decisions (at San Diego, August 17; vs. San Francisco, August 24)
- The Cardinal has played to a 107-31 advantage in shots through five matches this year and has outscored the opposition 17-2.
- Stanford owns a 103-5-8 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season.
- Including a goal from Harrison on Saturday, 10 different Cardinal have scored this year and 11 players have factored into points.
- The victory over the top 10 opponent was the first for Stanford since defeating then-No. 1 UCLA 1-0 on October 14, 2022.