In its fourth win over a ranked opponent this season, No. 2 Stanford (9-1, 2-0 Pac-12) shutout Washington State 5-0 at Cagan Stadium, where the team is unbeaten in its last 32 matches. It was the first game at home for the Cardinal in over a month.
Just 17 seconds into the second half, Madison Haley extended Stanford’s lead over No. 14 Washington State (8-2, 1-1 Pac-12) to 3-0 and set the tone for a dominant second half. The junior forward received assists on the sequence from Stanford’s other elite forwards, sophomore Sophia Smith and junior Catarina Macario.
“It was a great team performance against a really strong opponent,” said Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe. “We haven’t had the pleasure of playing in front of our home fans in quite some time, so we were thrilled to give them this result.”
A lively and at times raucous crowd was on hand to support the Cardinal in its homecoming.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Katie Meyer recorded her second shutout of the season with one save. The Cardinal defense kept the Cougars’ attack quiet, including chances from Washington State forward Averie Collins ’19, a graduate transfer from Stanford whose five goals are tied for the team-high.
Stanford opened the score card in the 23rd minute, with Smith finishing on assists from Haley and Macario. Excellent build-up play slotted Smith one-on-one with the Wazzu keeper, who Smith calmly navigated around before finishing in the back of the net.
The Cougars nearly held the Cardinal quiet for the remainder of the half, but senior midfielder Beattie Goad drew a penalty kick with under 30 seconds left in the half. Macario buried her first penalty kick goal of the season to double the Stanford lead.
At halftime, Stanford held a 15-2 advantage in shots and forced six saves out of the Cougars’ Ella Droderick. Washington State’s sixth-year goalkeeper set a season-high with nine saves on the night.
Haley quickly dashed the hopes of a Cougars comeback with the early second half goal. Macario’s header fell to the feet of Smith, who raced forward, drawing defenders away from Haley, who she slipped in for the clinical finish.
Soon after, Smith cut across one Washington State defender before nutmegging a second to create the space for a shot on goal. Though Droderick spilled the save, no other Cardinal were able to follow up the opportunity.
Macario, who also played midfield throughout the match, made her own magic to secure a brace, her sixth multi-goal game. The Hermann Trophy Award winner headed a ball from junior defender Kiki Pickett to herself, then spun her defender to sprint at goal unmarked.
The goal was Macario’s 14th of the season and the two assists bring her season total to nine. Her 33 career assists move her into a tie for sixth in program history with the legendary Julie Foudy.
The final goal came in the 82nd minute on an own goal. Sophomore center back Naomi Girma was in the box for the eighth and final corner kick of the night, and touched the ball off a Cougars defender and past Droderick.
Stanford will host Washington (6-2-2, 2-0 Pac-12), which is coming off an upset of No. 20 Cal, at 3 p.m. PT on Sunday.
Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.