STANFORD, Calif. – Senior Jasmine Aikey and freshman Brooke Holden each managed a brace on Thursday night as No. 7 Stanford earned a 7-0 shutout victory over San Francisco to open the 2025 season from Cagan Stadium.
Aikey netted her two goals in the 26th and 56th minutes before being replaced by Holden as a substitute in the 60th minute. Playing her first 30 collegiate minutes, Holden scored goals in the 82nd and 87th minutes to put the finishing touches on the rout.
The Cardinal (1-0-0) got the scoring started in the fifth minute when redshirt senior Andrea Kitahata received a ball down the left side from sophomore Charlotte Kohler and sent a left-footed cross into the box. Senior Allie Montoya rose and put her header inside the near post for her ninth career goal.
Senior Elise Evans factored into the next two goals for Stanford, assisting on scores from Aikey and freshman Y-Lan Nguyen as Stanford stretched its lead to 3-0. Evans beat her defender and finessed a pass in front of Aikey who hammered home a left-footed shot for her first of the day to make it 2-0 Stanford before finding Nguyen in open space in the 36th minute. One of the top freshmen attacking midfielders in the nation, Nguyen received the ball, spun and dribbled to her right before unleashing a driven one-hopper past the dive of San Francisco goalkeeper Tyra Bengtsson-Stenseth for her first career goal.
Carrying a 3-0 lead out of the halftime break, Aikey added her second goal of the night as Shae Harvey slipped a pass through the back line that found Aikey in stride for a one-timed shot to the back post. With two on Thursday, Aikey has now netted 24 career goals.
Returning to the pitch following an injury that ended her 2024 freshman campaign early, Jaden Thomas wasted no time opening her scoring account on Thursday night, benefitting from a beautiful run from senior Logan Smith. Smith beat her defender down the right side of the attack and sent a pass from the end line back toward goal where Thomas poked it away from a defender and bent her shot toward the back post and into goal using the outside of her boot. The goal was Thomas’ second of her career.
Making the most of their first opportunities on The Farm, freshmen Holden, Ava Harrison and Milly Bray combined to deliver the final two goals of the match. Harrison pressured a Don defender following a goal kick, dispossessing her opponent and flicking a ball to Holden who cut past a second defender and slotted her shot low and into the back of the net.
Just five minutes later, Bray gained control of a loose ball on the left side of the attack, dribbled toward the end line and sent a ball into the middle of the box where Holden one-timed her shot from the 6-yard box to complete the brace.
Freshman Caroline Birkel and sophomore Kaiya Jota each played a half in the shutout, with Birkel earning the start and working the first 45 minutes. Neither goalkeeper was forced into a save as Stanford managed a 30-4 advantage in shots.
Bengtsson-Stenseth recorded eight saves in goal for San Francisco (0-1-0).
The Cardinal will now prepare to host No. 16 Santa Clara on Sunday at 1 p.m. from Cagan Stadium.
GAME NOTES:
- Including Thursday’s 7-0 victory, Stanford has won all 27 career contests against the Dons and has outscored San Francisco 93-9 over the 27 matches … the Cardinal has managed 20 shutout wins vs. USF, including six straight ... the Cardinal is 12-0-0 under Paul Ratcliffe and has outscored San Francisco 55-3 in those 12 contests ... the Dons are one of two Stanford opponents to have played 12+ matches against the Cardinal and lost every contest between the pair (Stanford is 12-0 vs. Cal Poly)
- The seven goals scored are the most for Stanford since blanking CSUN 7-0 on August 26, 2021 … are also the most in a season opener since defeating Pomona-Pitzer 11-0 to open the 1988 season
- The Cardinal has now posted a shutout in each of the last five season openers … is unbeaten in the last 19 season openers dating back to 2007 (18-0-1) and has managed 11 shutouts over those 19 matches … has won 15 straight season openers overall … is 36-4-2 all time in season openers - including 20-2-1 under Ratcliffe
- Stanford is unbeaten in its last 37 home openers (36-0-1) dating back to 1989 … is outscoring opponents 130-14 with 26 shutouts over those 37 contests
- The Cardinal owns a 121-7-10 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season
- Stanford has managed a clean sheet in 33 of its last 57 contests overall
- The multi-goal game is the fourth of Jasmine Aikey’s career, joining her hat tricks at Oregon State (October 23, 2022) and vs. California (November 3, 2023), and a four-goal match vs. San Jose State (November 11, 2022) … is the first multi-goal game for a Cardinal since Andrea Kitahata had two vs. No. 16 South Carolina on November 17, 2023
- Thursday's match was the first featuring a pair of Cardinal with multiple goals since Maya Doms (3) and Abby Greubel (2) vs. CSUN on August 26, 2021
- Elise Evans’ multi-assist game is the first of her career and the first for a Cardinal since Charlotte Kohler had a pair vs. Washington State on September 1, 2024