STANFORD, Calif. – Freshmen Ella Kral and Ale Munneke each scored a goal, with Kral also assisting on a goal from sophomore Brooke Holden, as No. 1 Stanford defeated Pacific 3-0 in an exhibition match from Cagan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Running down a cross at the back post, Kral circled back toward goal and found Holden cutting across the middle in the 11th minute. Holden controlled and powered her shot past Pacific goalkeeper Lis van Herwijnen for what proved to be the game-winner.
Kral doubled the Cardinal advantage in the 23rd minute, beating her defender and intercepting a pass on the Tigers’ back line before quickly finding the back of the net in transition.
Carrying the 2-0 advantage out of halftime, Munneke struck for a goal in the 54th minute when she dialed up her shot and slipped it through the mitts of Pacific’s second goalkeeper of the afternoon, freshman Ava Wells. Wells was credited with eight saves on the afternoon, including a handful of impressive stops in the second half to keep the deficit at three goals.
Stanford used 21 total players, including all three of its goalkeepers, to record the clean sheet. Sophomore Caroline Birkel played the first 30 minutes in goal before graduate student Rhiannon Stewart and junior Kaiya Jota each contributed 30 minutes.
The Cardinal defense limited Pacific to just two total shots, with neither drawing a save from a Stanford keeper. Stanford managed 31 total shots, including three each from Kral, Jaden Thomas, Charlotte Kohler, Noe Johnson, Holden, Erica Grilione and Munneke.
Stanford will officially open the 2026 season on August 16 when it visits Cal Poly for a 1 p.m. kickoff.