The No. 2 Stanford women’s soccer team began its three-game homestand in impressive fashion Thursday night at Cagan Stadium, trouncing Hawaii (2-8) by a final score of 9-0. The Card was dominant in all aspects of the game, getting goals from seven players and outshooting Hawaii 33-3 overall.
“The team is coming into mid-season form, starting to play well,” said Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe. “There were a lot of different faces scoring goals tonight, so it was really good to see.”
Stanford (7-0-2) kicked off the scoring less than three minutes into the match. Junior forward Lindsay Taylor received the ball just outside of the box on the left side before cutting inside to create a shooting angle. She was still a long way out but struck a beautiful curling shot over the keeper and in off the underside of the crossbar.
Just a minute later, senior forward Christen Press had a chance to double the advantage as she found herself one-on-one with Hawaii keeper Kanani Taaca after a beautiful long ball by center back Alina Garciamendez. However, her near-post attempt was kept out by the diving keeper.
In the ninth minute, Press put junior Teresa Noyola in behind the defense, and the midfielder unselfishly played the ball across for Taylor to tap in her second goal of the game. With that score, the Cardinal went up 2-0.
Stanford did not let up and the barrage continued a minute later. Taaca slid to collect a loose ball in the box but could not hold onto it, and Press swooped in to slot the ball into the open net.
Noyola hit the post from the top of the box in the 18th minute, and Morgan Redman struck the post after some nifty footwork in the 32nd minute. Redman got her goal in the 37th minute, again displaying some good dribbling to win a penalty and then smashing the ball in from the spot.
Once again, the Cardinal struck within a minute of the previous goal. Sophomore Marjani Hing-Glover blasted a left-footed effort in off the far post from 25 yards out on the right to make it 5-0. The half would end with that score, with Stanford holding an 18-1 edge in shots.
Stanford had its starters back in to begin the 2nd half, and Noyola made it 6-0 six minutes after the interval. Defender Rachel Quon popped up on the left side to head a high ball into the box back across the face of goal, and Noyola poked it home.
As was the trend on the night, it was 7-0 inside a minute later. Senior midfielder Allison McCann stole the ball at midfield and drove all the way down the pitch before coolly slotting it past Christina Ehrett, who had replaced Taaca in goal at halftime, into the corner of the goal.
Press headed in number eight off a cross from Noyola with 28 minutes remaining, and that was the last touch of the ball before all the starters were subbed out for good. Still, the Cardinal scored once more with nine minutes remaining as freshman Taylor McCann knocked in her first collegiate goal on a long-range missile that a diving Ehrett could not get a hand on. Hing-Glover nearly made it double digits a few minutes later, only to see her blast tipped against the crossbar by Ehrett. The match ended 9-0.
Stanford will now turn its attention to the marquee matchup of the weekend, a home date with Portland on Saturday night. The Pilots (10-0-0) currently sit third in the national rankings, just behind Stanford. Last weekend they had another top-10 clash, defeating No. 6 Texas A&M 1-0 at home. Last night they took on Cal in Berkeley, earning a 3-1 road victory over the Golden Bears.
The game on Saturday will be a rematch of the 2008 NCAA quarterfinal match between Stanford and Portland. The Cardinal won that match, earning a berth in the College Cup, where the team made a return trip last year. If the team can get a victory tomorrow night, it would certainly be a statement that the Card is ready to make it three trips in a row. With No. 1 North Carolina losing to Boston College last night, the nation’s top ranking will likely be on the line.
Still, Ratcliffe maintains that national rank is not a concern.
“We just want to take care of business, just win the game,” he said. “Portland’s a great team. We have a lot of respect [for them], so it’ll be a tough opponent. Hopefully we can play our best and get a good result.”
The match kicks off at Cagan Stadium at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.