STANFORD, Calif. – Junior Shae Harvey recorded her first career multi-goal match, collecting a brace and adding an assist, to lead No. 3 Stanford to a 5-0 shutout victory over visiting Virginia Tech on Thursday night from Cagan Stadium.
The shutout was the fourth consecutive clean sheet for Stanford, which improved to 10-1-1 on the year and 4-0-1 in ACC play. Virginia Tech dropped to 4-7-3 overall and 0-5-1 in the ACC.
Harvey scored goals in the 11th and 61st minutes before assisting on Stanford’s final goal in the 69th minute.
Senior Elise Evans bagged her fourth goal of the year in the seventh minute after cashing in on Stanford’s second of eight corner kick opportunities. Joelle Jung’s swinging ball in was headed on frame by freshman Lily Freer, but found its way through the gloves of Virginia Tech goalkeeper Lauren Hargrove where Evans one-timed a right-footed shot into the back of the net.
The Cardinal once again converted on a corner kick to make it 2-0 in the 11th minute as Y-Lan Nguyen’s ball in was punched away by Hargrove only to find the foot of Jung. The junior flicked a pass on to Charlotte Kohler in the box where it was quickly redirected toward the back post for a volleyed shot from Harvey.
Leading 2-0 at halftime, Stanford added to its lead in the second half when Jasmine Aikey netted her 10th goal of the year in the 59th minute. A ball played into the Stanford offensive zone was mishandled by a Hokie defender, deflecting out to Eleanor Klinger who played a ball through the back line for Aikey. Stanford’s leading scorer easily handled the chance, receiving the ball in stride and slotting her shot past the sliding goalkeeper for the tally.
Harvey completed the brace just two minutes later when Jung sent a free kick toward the penalty spot. Harvey jockeyed for position in the box before rising for a header and perfectly placing her shot into the far corner of the net.
Freshman Brooke Holden put the finishing touches on the rout with her fifth goal of the season in the 69th minute. Harvey once again won a header to spring the goal, this time rising to win a free ball off a Virginia Tech goal kick and putting her pass in stride for Klinger who tapped her pass forward for Holden. The native of Alpine, Calif. took one touch to her right before unleashing a low-driven shot that skipped in for the goal.
Freshman Caroline Birkel and sophomore Kaiya Jota combined for the shutout, with Birkel working the first 69 minutes of the match. Stanford was credited with one team save as Evans blocked a shot headed for an open goal in the 29th minute to ensure the clean sheet.
The Cardinal will return to action on Sunday when it hosts No. 1 Virginia at 1 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford outshot Virginia Tech 17-3 and managed an 8-5 advantage in corner kicks
- Stanford has conceded just seven goals so far this season, has posted seven shutouts, including four straight, and has managed a clean sheet in 39 of its last 68 contests overall … Stanford is outscoring its opposition 17-0 over the four shutout wins
- The Cardinal has scored at least three goals in nine of the first 12 matches of the year and has reached the five-goal plateau six times … 49 combined goals over the 12 matches are the most since scoring 51 in the first 12 of 2017
- Stanford is averaging a national-best 26.25 shots per game and leads the nation in scoring offense (4.08 goals per game)
- The Cardinal carries a 56-7-9 overall record over its last 72 matches
- The Cardinal owns a 128-7-10 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season … is 8-0-0 at home so far this season and is outscoring opponents 36-2 in those matches
- Jasmine Aikey has contributed at least a point in 10 of the first 12 matches this season … has scored in each of the last three matches, and has a goal in eight of the 12 contests this season ... leads the team in total points with 24 (team-high 10 goals and four assists)
- Shae Harvey contributed her first career multi-goal match and her second career match with at least one goal and an assist ... has totaled seven points in her last two matches after contributing a pair of assists in a 4-0 victory over Syracuse on September 28
- Joelle Jung has contributed at least one assist in five of the last nine matches and has a point in seven of the 12 matches this year
- Eleanor Klinger recorded her first career multi-assist match
- Charlotte Kohler has contributed at least a point in eight of the first 12 matches this season