A late Mariah Nogueira header pushed the No. 1 Stanford women’s soccer team past No. 6 Penn State on Friday night, further asserting the defending national champion Cardinal’s spot atop the rankings with the 3-2 victory in University Park, Penn.

The senior midfielder put home the decisive goal in the 88th minute, responding to a Nittany Lion equalizer on a penalty kick just 4:24 earlier. Nogueira also scored the first goal of Stanford’s season last week against Santa Clara.

The Cardinal improves to 2-0 on the young season, while Penn State falls to 2-1.

After a header by Penn State’s Mallory Weber opened the scoring in the 19th minute, it took just three and a half minutes for sophomore forward Alex Doll to tie things up with the first goal of her career. She then assisted on a second-half tally by junior attacker Sydney Payne.

Stanford redshirt junior goalkeeper Aly Gleason made her second collegiate start and played the entirety of the match. Junior Emily Oliver, whose 0.23 goals-against-average was best in the nation in 2011, has still not seen action this year. Head coach Paul Ratcliffe didn’t play her until the third game last season, but a team spokesperson confirmed Friday night that Oliver is currently injured.

The Cardinal’s regular-season unbeaten streak, dating back to 2008, was extended to 64 games with the win. It will face West Virginia on Sunday, also as part of the Penn State Invitational.

—Joseph Beyda