STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford scored its most goals in a game since 2021 on Friday afternoon, fueling a 6-3 win over Richmond on Friday at Varsity Turf for their first win of the 2023 campaign. The Cardinal jumps to 1-3 on the season, while Richmond tumbles to 2-3 on the year.
Freshman Gemma Townsend paced the Cardinal offense with a five-point performance in the game, tallying her team-leading second and third goals of the season while also dishing out an assist. Tottie Taylor registered a goal and an assist in the game, as Haley Mossmer, Liv Martin, and Maroussia Walkiers rounded out the scoring. Caroline Guden and Mia Clark also earned assists in the contest.
Daisy Ford held the Spiders scoreless on one save in the opening thirty minutes, while Kendall Dowd came on in relief to secure two stops in the second half. Scout Butler registered the team's first defensive save of the season.
"The reason that we schedule the way that we do is so that we can chip away at what needs to be improved, and that's exactly what we saw today," head coach Roz Ellis said. "The first three games gave us a clear picture of where we need to go with the ball, what kind of goal scorers we need to be, how we support each other in that mission, and we scored six goals today. We need to clean up the third quarter, that's definitely an area of our game that we need to advance. However, super proud of how we stayed the course, we trusted each other, and how we were fierce in the way we attacked."
The Cardinal struck early with a Mossmer goal just 1:40 into the opening frame. Liv Martin doubled the Stanford lead shortly after on a beautiful corner play that left the freshman a wide-open look at the left side of the net. Townsend closed out the first half scoring with a rocket from just inside the arch with seconds remaining in the second quarter to give Stanford a commanding 3-0 lead at the break.
"I think [the early lead] built a lot of trust within the team. When you see your teammates fight for a 50/50 ball or make a tackle, you start to see the belief conjure up within everybody," Ellis added. "That's what gave us the opportunity to continue to keep putting the ball in the back of the net. We could see the fight with everyone on the field, and everybody knew that we were going to win this game."
Coming out of the break, Richmond looked to gain control of the momentum with a pair of quick goals to start the third, but a breakaway chance for Stanford led to a Taylor goal to bring the Cardinal advantage back to two. Richmond added another goal in the third period, but Stanford kept the scoring going with a pair of goals off rebounds from Walckiers and Townsend to put the game out of reach.
Stanford now prepares for four games in the next week as it hits the road for the first time this season. The Cardinal will face off against a pair of Big Ten opponents in No. 18 Ohio State on Sept. 10 and Michigan State on Sept, 12, before the team treks to the east coast to kick off America East play against New Hampshire on Sept. 15 and Maine on Sept. 17.