No. 3 Women’s soccer (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12), the first team on Stanford’s 2019-20 athletic calendar, started the year on a high note with a 2-1 road win over No. 6 Penn State (0-1, 0-0 Big Ten) on Friday. Both Stanford goals came courtesy of the dynamic boot of junior forward Catarina Macario.
The first, an early goal of the year candidate, came just seventeen minutes into the season. The reigning Hermann Trophy winner chipped the Nittany Lions goalkeeper to net the first Cardinal goal of the season and first point of the school year for a Stanford athletics team.
Penn State dominated possession in the opening minutes, recording the first two shots of the game, including an opportunity by Sam Coffey that tested senior goalkeeper Lauren Rood. Stanford, however, quickly grew into the game, and the first Macario goal came as a result.
Rood spelled another chance from Coffey, but could not save the tying goal from Kate Wiesner.
Wiesner, the top-ranked player in the 2019 class by TopDrawerSoccer, scored 34 minutes into her debut on a counter attack. A long run and a shot on ground slipped past the outstretched fingertips of Rood.
After 45 minutes, the Cardinal led 12-7 in shots, but only tested goalkeeper Amanda Dennis twice. All three corner kicks belonged to Stanford, but none were converted.
The game was played in front of 5,238 fans, the second largest attendance in the history of Jeffrey Field.
After halftime, Stanford wasted no time finding its winning goal. The first shot of the period came off the foot of Macario, who curled the ball past Dennis from close range.
Macario fed the ball to junior Madison Haley, who turned outside the top of the box to slip Macario a pass between two Penn State defenders. With two touches from the outside of her right foot, Macario created the opening she needed to fire the shot.
Coffey once again looked to answer, but her strike a minute later was parried by Rood.
Stanford controlled the rest of the game, with Coffey managing only one more Penn State shot attempt. The Cardinal bested the Nittany Lions in the stat 17-9, and rectified the halftime deficit in shots on goal to finish 5-4.
Freshmen midfielder Maya Doms and defender Kennedy Wesley made their collegiate debuts during the match, each recording a shot. After redshirting her freshman year, midfielder Sierra Enge played the full 90 minutes in her debut, tallying three shots.
Anchoring the backline, sophomore center back Naomi Girma, senior center back Sam Hiatt and junior outside back Kiki Pickett all played from whistle to whistle, as did Rood and Macario.
Stanford returns to action on Sunday, with a 9 a.m. PT game against No. 11 West Virginia (1-0, 0-0 Big 12).
Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.