LOS ANGELES – Playing on the road for the first time this season, No. 1 Stanford rolled past No. 6 USC 5-1 behind a brace from sophomore Eleanor Klinger on Thursday night from Rawlinson Stadium.
With the top 10 victory, Stanford improves to 6-0-0 on the season, while USC dropped to 3-1-1 with the setback.
The Cardinal scored the first three goals on the night, with the opener coming from redshirt senior captain Andrea Kitahata in the 25th minute. Working off the left side of the Cardinal attack, Kitahata pounced on a loose ball at the top of the 18 and fired a right-footed shot into the far top corner of the frame for her third goal of the season.
Stanford’s leading goal scorer, Jasmine Aikey, added her sixth of the season in the 57th minute as Charlotte Kohler picked the pocket of a USC defender, dribbled toward the goal and played a pass out to Kitahata on the wing. Kitahata took one touch before sending her low cross into the center of the box for Aikey to slip home.
Still leading 2-0 with the clock winding toward the final 10 minutes of regulation, Klinger got to work with goals in the 78th and 83rd minutes. Freshman Brooke Holden keyed the first goal as she received a pass with her back to goal on the left wing, spun toward the end line and skipped a cross off the mitts of USC goalkeeper Bella Grust. The ball trickled across the front of goal and Klinger managed to reroute her run, spin and fire a shot into the net for her first of the season.
After USC got one back in the final seconds of the 80th minute, Klinger unleashed a shot from the Big Ten logo along the far sideline that somehow found its way into the upper corner of the frame to beat Grust and make it 4-1 Stanford. A candidate for goal of the year, Klinger’s second tally secured her first career multi-goal match.
Holden put the finishing touches on the rout in the 86th minute, banking a shot off the near post and in after a beautiful run and pass from Jaden Thomas on the left side. For Holden, the goal was her third of the season.
Freshman Caroline Birkel and sophomore Kaiya Jota each earned minutes in goal on Thursday night, with Birkel playing the first 77.
Stanford will continue the road trip in Los Angeles on Sunday when it travels to No. 18 UCLA for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
GAME NOTES:
- The five goals scored are the most for Stanford against USC since defeating the Trojans 6-1 on October 20, 1995
- The Top-10 win on the road is the first for Stanford since defeating then-No. 3 USC 3-2 on September 28, 2019
- Stanford entered the match as the nation’s leader in scoring offense, averaging 5.00 goals per match, and met that mark once again on Thursday
- The Cardinal has scored at least three goals in each of the first six matches of the year and has reached the five-goal plateau four times … 30 combined goals over the six matches are the most since scoring 30 in the first six of 2017
- Stanford put nine of its 16 shots on frame on Thursday while scoring the five goals
- Jasmine Aikey has contributed at least a point in five of the first six matches this season, and has scored in four of the six ... leads the team in total points with 13 (team-high six goals and one assist)
- Andrea Kitahata has contributed at least a point in all six matches this season
- Eleanor Klinger recorded her first career multi-goal match ... has scored all three of her career goals against the Trojans
- Charlotte Kohler has contributed at least a point in five of the first six matches this season