PALO ALTO, Calif. – Stanford (19-2-1) scored in the 18th minute and never looked back as they defeated the Arizona Wildcats (14-6-2) by a score of 3-0.
“Stanford is good so you have to give them credit,” head coach Tony Amato said. “I thought in the first half we executed the way we needed to and we worked hard. We caused them some fits and they created the one dangerous chance and they were good enough to finish it. In the second half they put their foot on the pedal and we struggled to get into any sort of rhythm. I'm super proud of the team with the work they put in this season and they changed the expectations of our program.”
Jaden DeGracie challenged Stanford keeper Jane Campbell for the first time in the match in the 12th minute as she took a shot from about 35 yards away. The shot had some pace on it and Campbell left her feet to make a save, but the ball went just over the crossbar instead.
In the 18th minute, Megan Turner put Stanford on the board as she received a cross from Kyra Carusa in the goal box. She one touched it and put it past Arizona keeper Lainey Burdett.
Hannah Wong tried to keep her momentum going from Thursday by attempting a difficult volley from the top of the box in the 22nd, but it went just wide of the post.
Burdett was forced to make a save in the 26th minute after some impressive cross-field passing from Stanford. Mariah Lee got her head on the end of a cross, but Burdett was there to make the save.
Stanford had a few more chances to score and had a couple corners as well in the first half, but the Arizona defense held and the score was 1-0 Stanford going into halftime.
The first scoring chance in the second half came in the 63rd minute when Stanford had a free kick. The Cardinal went for goal, but Burdett was there to make save. Then a minute later, Lee made a nice run and got a shot off, but Skadsen was there to block it.
Stanford went up 2-0 in the 77th minute as Ryan Walker-Hartshorn put one in the back of the net. There was a flurry of shots and Burdett and her defenders kept blocking it in front of goal, but Walker-Hartshorn took the ball and scored in the end.
Just a few seconds later, Haley Silverberg almost scored for Arizona, but Campbell was able to make the save. Gabi Stoian found herself a shot, but it was also saved.
In the 81st minute, Wong took a free kick from about 50 yards away. Hayley Estopare got her head on it, but Campbell made the save with ease.
Wong had another free kick from the same spot she scored on Thursday in the 86th minute. She went for goal again, but this time it went wide left of the post.
Walker-Hartshorn scored again with just over one minute to go and the match ended in a score of 3-0. With today's result, Stanford advances to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, effectively ending Arizona's season.
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