No. 2 women’s soccer (14-1-0, 7-0-0 Pac-12) overwhelmed Colorado (10-5-1, 2-4-1 Pac-12) with three second-half goals in a 4-0 victory in Boulder, CO. Four different Cardinal players found the back of the net, but it was junior forward Catarina Macario’s first-half penalty score that will go down in the history books.
Just into the eleventh minute, Macario was able to draw a foul from Buffaloes goalkeeper Jalen Tompkins. She was awarded the penalty, which she converted for her nation-leading eighth game-winner and 50th career goal. Macario is just the sixth Stanford woman to reach the half-century mark, joining the ranks of joining Christen Press (71), Sarah Rafanelli (59), Kelley O’Hara (57), Lindsay Taylor (53) and Julie Foudy (52).
Despite 11 more shots from the Cardinal attack, Colorado managed to staunch the bleeding for the rest of the half. Tompkins and the Buffaloes employed bend-don’t-break defense to the max entering the second half, as they repelled eight more shots in the opening twenty minutes.
Finally in the 65th, Macario worked her magic, collecting the ball in her own half and running it all the way up the left side before crossing to junior forward Madison Haley. Haley controlled on her first touch and slipped the ball past Tompkins on her second for her seventh goal on the year.
In the 77th minute, senior midfielder Beattie Goad redirected redshirt freshman defender Sierra Enge’s cross within the near post to score the third goal in the game. An eleventh-hour goal helped Stanford secure its triumph in the match, as junior defender Jojo Harber headed a cross from senior forward Carley Malatskey into the top corner. In concert, these efforts — which both occurred in the final 15 minutes of the match — marked the eighth time the Cardinal scored four or more goals this season.
Stanford has reigned undefeated in its last 37 Pac-12 games dating back to 2016. The offense has been nigh unstoppable, outscoring competition 103-14 within that range.
Stanford will play its last three matches of the season at home against Arizona State (Oct. 31), Arizona (Nov. 3) and California (Nov. 8).
Contact James Hemker at jahemker ‘at’ stanford.edu and Claire Wang at clwang32 ‘at’ stanford.edu.