STANFORD, Calif. – Sophomore Elise Evans headed home the game-winner in the 11th minute as No. 3 Stanford (18-0-4) held on to defeat No. 18 Mississippi State (12-6-5) 1-0 on Sunday in the third round of the NCAA Tournament from Cagan Stadium.
Evans was in the perfect position to bury her second goal of the season after Maya Doms' original header off a Stanford corner hit the crossbar and rebounded out. The corner was the first of six on the day for the Cardinal.
Stanford's defense once again proved stingy, allowing just seven Bulldogs shots, with the bulk coming from distance.
Senior Ryan Campbell was credited with two saves in the victory, pushing her season shutout total to 10. The Cardinal has now posted four consecutive shutouts and last allowed a goal at No. 2 UCLA in the 68th minute on October 29 – a span of 383:37 consecutive scoreless play.
The Cardinal had other opportunities to stretch the lead, hitting the crossbar on three separate occasions after the goal, to eventually finish with a 15-7 advantage in shots.
With the win, Stanford will advance to host No. 15 Nebraska in the quarterfinal round on Friday, November 24 at 2 p.m.
GAME NOTES
- The Cardinal is making its 32nd NCAA Tournament appearance, including its 25th in the last 26 seasons
- With Sunday's victory, Stanford has reached the NCAA quarterfinal round for the 11th time in the last 16 seasons - including the first since the 2019 national championship season
- With USC dropping a match to BYU on November 16 in the second round, Stanford is the last Pac-12 school standing in the 2023 NCAA Tournament
- The Cardinal has compiled a 68-23-8 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play
- Stanford is 55-4-5 all-time in postseason games hosted on The Farm, and has won 15 straight (last loss: 1-0 (2OT) vs. Santa Clara on November 18, 2016) ... is 43-1-2 over the last 46 postseason home games dating back to 2008
- Stanford has allowed one goal or fewer in 34 straight matches dating back to Sept. 29, 2022 at USC
- Stanford is unbeaten in 28 straight home matches at Cagan Stadium dating back to October 3, 2021
- Stanford owns a 112-5-9 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season
- Stanford has now posted 13 shutouts this year and is 7-0-0 in games decided by one goal
- Now 18-0-4 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 34 matches (28-0-6) and has posted 19 shutouts in the last 30 contests
- The Cardinal has played to a 422-192 advantage in shots and has outscored the opposition 49-9
- With an assist on Friday, Jasmine Aikey has contributed a point in 15 of the 22 matches this season
- The shutout was Campbell's 18th of her career – one shy of Carly Smolak (19) for ninth-most in Stanford history
- With the shutout, Stanford lowered its goals against average to a national-best .409, while Campbell lowered her NCAA-best mark to .380
- Stanford improves to 6-0-3 this season against ranked opponents