Top-ranked women’s soccer (15-1-0, 8-0-0 Pac-12) defeated Oregon (7-9-0, 1-7-0) and Oregon State (4-9-3, 1-6-1) this weekend in Cagan Stadium. Scoring 10 goals over the two games, the Cardinal got started with a 4-0 win over the Ducks before overwhelming the Beavers 6-0.
With the weekend wins, Stanford increased its win streak to 13 and has not conceded a goal in almost 700 minutes. Over the season, the Cardinal racked up 13 shutouts in 16 games.
Freshman forward Catarina Macario headlined the Cardinal weekend as she was involved in six goals. The forward scored twice on Thursday against Oregon, including a free kick from over 30 yards and added one more on Sunday to bring her season tally to 12. The freshman is tied for most goals on the team with junior forward Kyra Carusa.
Although Macario confirmed her key position in the team, Stanford once again showcased great depth in these two games, as the Cardinal’s 10 goals involved 14 different players.
“We have tremendous depth on the team this year,” head coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “Everyone that comes in contributes to the success.”
On Thursday against the Ducks, Macario opened the score thanks to a free kick in the left top corner, beating Oregon keeper Halla Hinriksdottir. Twenty minutes later, the freshman doubled Stanford’s lead on a volley right outside the box. Junior Tegan McGrady booted a long ball to fellow junior forward Mariah Lee, who flicked it to Macario for the score.
“We are definitely working on the long diagonals because we are getting a little predictive on our short passes,” coach Ratcliffe said after the game.
Leading 2-0 at the break, the Cardinal allowed only one shot in the second half, securing the win against an Oregon team that had to protect its goal from 22 shots, nie of which were on goal.
Two more goals in the second half by sophomore midfielder Jaye Boissiere and Carusa completed the 12th season shutout for Stanford.
On Sunday, the Cardinal were also unstoppable, breaking through six times with 18 total shots on goal. Macario once again sparked the Cardinal offense, assisting Carusa for a score in the fifth minute of the contest. Macario found Carusa in the box on a free kick, and the sophomore did the rest to beat the adverse keeper and put Stanford ahead.
Macario would also be involved in Stanford’s second goal, this time assisting junior Michelle Xiao. Receiving the ball in the left side of the box, Xiao slipped a shot near the opposite post.
Stanford never stopped attacking and finished the game with 28 shots, a little above its season average of 25.5.
“We play good defense by playing a lot of offense,” defender Alana Cook said. “We are able to keep the ball for long stretches of time to tire the other team out.”
In the second half, the Cardinal did not stop pressuring the Beavers’ defense and scored three more times to finish the beatdown.
The Cardinal are now heading into the final three games of the season with only one loss against Florida. Stanford will use its last conference games against USC, UCLA and Cal to get ready for the postseason.
“We want to peak at the right time,” Cook said. “Every little thing we’ve assessed as a weakness along the way we are working on to get better.”
Stanford returns to action at UCLA this week as it faces the Bruins Thursday night, before taking on the USC Trojans on Sunday.
Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.