No. 2 Stanford (11-1, 4-0 Pac-12) opened its weekend up north with a 2-0 victory against Oregon State (9-2-1, 1-2-1 Pac-12) on Thursday night. Two of Stanford’s top-three goal-scorers, junior forward Catarina Macario and sophomore forward Sophia Smith, finished with a first-half goal, which proved to be sufficient separation to down the Beavers.
Oregon State took the first shot of the match, forcing a save out of redshirt sophomore Katie Meyer, who received the start in goal. After a quick follow-up sailed over the bar, the Cardinal took the final 15 shots of the half.
In the first ten minutes, five corner kicks were taken, four of which were for the Cardinal. That period also saw five Stanford shots, but none were put on frame until Smith’s in the 11th minute. For the match, the Cardinal took 13 of the 15 corner kicks.
It was not until the 18th minute that Macario found the back of the net. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week chipped the keeper from outside the right edge of the penalty area to put Stanford ahead.
Although Smith was denied by the woodwork in the 23rd minute, seven minutes later, she added her name to the scoresheet. With clever footwork and an impressive finish, the sophomore brought Stanford’s advantage to 2-0, a score that would hold until halftime.
At the break, Stanford held a 15-2 advantage in shots with 5-1 testing Oregon State goalkeeper Bridgette Skiba.
Stanford took 18 shots and had a few opportunities to score in the second half, but could not come away with a third goal. In the 64th minute, one of the better chances came with a Macario free-kick, but the effort was tipped off the crossbar by Skiba. The Beavers’s goalkeeper finished with a season-high nine saves, two shy of matching her career-best.
Meanwhile, in her fifth appearance, Meyer made a career-high two saves for her fourth shutout of the season. With senior center back Sam Hiatt not playing, all four Cardinal defenders, sophomore Naomi Girma, freshman Kennedy Wesley and juniors Kiki Pickett and Jojo Harber, played all 90 minutes.
Behind Macario’s eight, senior forward Carly Malatskey took six shots for second on the team, one ahead of Smith, in 51 minutes of play.
For the third time this season — and the first time since the third game of the year — the Cardinal surpassed 30 shots. Stanford outshot Oregon State 33-4 with a 12-2 advantage in shots on frame.
Sunday’s kickoff from Oregon is at noon PT.
Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.