STANFORD, Calif. – Andrea Kitahata scored a pair of goals, and Maya Doms added her third career postseason tally, as No. 3 Stanford (17-0-4) shut out No. 16 South Carolina (12-3-6) 3-0 in the NCAA second round on Friday night from a rain-soaked Cagan Stadium.
Kitahata, who also scored in the first round victory over Pepperdine, has now tallied three goals in a pair of tournament matches this year. Friday's showing proved to be a career-effort for the native of Hillsborough, Calif. as she also contributed an assist for a career-best five points.
The brace was Kitahata's second career multi-goal game after previously scoring twice against San Diego State on August 29, 2021.
While the goals were the story on Friday night, Stanford's defense proved stingy, surrendering just three total shots from the Gamecocks while allowing none on frame toward Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year Ryan Campbell.
Campbell played all 90 minutes in goal for the second-seeded Cardinal, registering her ninth shutout of the year.
After settling into the rainy pace of play, Stanford broke through in the 18th minute as Jasmine Aikey sent a cross through the box toward the back post where Kitahata one-timed her shot into the back of the net for what proved to be the game-winner – Kitahata's fifth deciding goal of the season.
Stanford, which finished the match with a 23-3 advantage in shots, had opportunities to extend the lead in the first half, but was unable to cash in as the Cardinal took the 1-0 lead into the break.
Coming out hungry in the second 45, Kitahata once again found the back of the net, this time collecting a loose ball off a Stanford corner kick and lacing a left-footed shot to the far post to make it 2-0 and run her season goal total to nine.
With South Carolina now pressing to get back into the match, Doms found some space in the 66th minute off a pass from Kitahata, unleashing a low-driven ball that snuck just inside the post and settled into the side netting for her ninth goal of the year.
South Carolina goalkeeper Heather Hinz was credited with nine saves while facing the 23 Stanford shots.
With the victory, Stanford advances to play No. 18 Mississippi State on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bulldogs, a six-seed in the tournament, reached the third round by way of a 2-1 victory over No. 3 seed Brown earlier on Friday afternoon.
GAME NOTES
- The Cardinal is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance, including its 25th in the last 26 seasons
- With Friday's victory, Stanford has reached the NCAA third round for the 14th time in the last 18 seasons – including the first since the 2019 national championship season
- With USC dropping a match to BYU on Thursday in the second round, Stanford is the last Pac-12 school standing in the 2023 NCAA Tournament
- The Cardinal has compiled a 67-23-8 record in NCAA Tournament play
- Stanford is 54-4-5 all-time in postseason games hosted on The Farm, and has won 14 straight (last loss: 1-0 (2OT) vs. Santa Clara on November 18, 2016) ... is 42-1-2 over the last 45 postseason home games dating back to 2008
- In addition to the 23-3 advantage in shots, Stanford also took 11 corner kicks while holding South Carolina without a corner kick opportunity … posted double-digit corner kicks for the fifth time this season and held an opponent without a corner for the second time this season (Duke on September 2)
- Stanford has allowed one goal or fewer in 33 straight matches dating back to Sept. 29, 2022 at USC
- Stanford is unbeaten in 27 straight home matches at Cagan Stadium dating back to October 3, 2021
- Stanford owns a 111-5-9 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season
- Stanford has now posted 12 shutouts this year
- Now 17-0-4 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 33 matches (27-0-6) and has posted 18 shutouts in the last 29 contests
- Stanford has scored three-plus goals in 10 of 21 matches, topping out at four on four occasions
- The Cardinal has played to a 407-185 advantage in shots and has outscored the opposition 48-9
- With an assist on Friday, Jasmine Aikey has contributed a point in 14 of the 21 matches this season
- The shutout was Campbell's 17th of her career - moving past Erica Holland (16) for 10th-most in Stanford history
- Maya Doms has scored in nine of 21 matches this year, including three of the last four and six of the last 11
- Andrea Kitahata has scored in eight of the 21 matches this year, including back-to-back contests and four of the last nine … has contributed three goals in two postseason matches this year
- Stanford improves to 5-0-3 this season against ranked opponents