STANFORD, Calif. – In a battle of top-10 powers from the ACC, No. 6 Stanford defeated No. 3 Wake Forest by a score of 2-0 on Sunday afternoon from Cagan Stadium.
The victory snapped a two-match skid for the Cardinal, and pushed its record to 7-2-1 overall and 1-2-0 in the ACC. The loss was the first suffered by Wake Forest this year, as the Demon Deacons dropped to 9-1-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the conference.
The tightly contested match saw the two teams play to a scoreless draw through the first 45 minutes. Stanford held a narrow 5-1 lead in shots after the first half, and finished with a 14-4 advantage overall in the contest, but it took a Peyton Marinos goal in the 77th minute to break the deadlock.
The Freshman received a perfect through pass from Bella Winn toward the back side of the Cardinal attack and slotted her left-footed shot low and past Wake Forest goalkeeper Valentina Amaral for her second career goal and what proved to be the match winner.
Wake Forest nearly equalized in the 90th minute following a mistake by the Cardinal backline. Leading 1-0 and looking to run out the clock, Stanford played a ball back toward its goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, but the pass was run upon by Wake Forest’s Kylie Maxwell. Dribbling around Birkel, Maxwell had an open net in front of her, but junior Lizzie Boamah chased her down and slid to push the ball over the endline for a corner kick.
Birkel and Boamah, in addition to midfielder Y-Lan Nguyen, returned to action on Sunday following a stint with the U.S. at the 2026 U-20 World Cup in Poland.
With the final seconds ticking down, Amaral left her goal and came into the attacking area for the ensuing corner kick. Stanford cleared the line and Amaral retreated back to midfield where she attempted to keep the ball in the Wake Forest attacking zone. Pressed by the Cardinal, Amaral was dispossessed by Charlotte Kohler, who dribbled half the field and deposited her shot into the open net to cap the victory with 13 seconds left to go. The goal was Kohler's team-leading seventh of the year.
Amaral was credited with two saves in the loss, while Birkel notched one on Wake Forest’s only shot on frame.
With a point in had in the ACC standings, Stanford will look to carry momentum on the road next week when it visits SMU for a 4 p.m. kickoff on Friday, September 25.
MATCH NOTES:
- The Cardinal was winless against Wake Forest in five all-time contests entering Sunday (0-4-1) - the only opponent of at least three matches to record an undefeated record against the Cardinal
•   Stanford is 74-10-11 over its last 95 matches and has managed a clean sheet in 48 of its last 91 contests, including seven of the first 10 this season … has outscored the opposition 91-25 over its last 27 matches ... is 3-1-0 so far this season against ranked opponents
•   The Cardinal owns a 139-8-11 record at Cagan Stadium since the start of the 2014 season
•   The victory was Stanford’s first over a top-five opponent since defeating No. 1 Virginia 2-1 on October 12, 2025 at Cagan StadiumÂ
•   Charlotte Kohler has scored in seven of the 10 matches this season and has a point in eight of 10 overall ... has contributed on 11 of Stanford’s 27 goals this year while totaling 18 points (7 goals, 4 assists) ... has managed 49 goal contributions in her career (24 goals, 25 assists)