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Courtney Verloo had a goal and an assist within a seven-minute span of the second half to spark No. 3 Stanford to a 3-0 victory over Arizona State in a Pac-12 women's soccer opener before 1,815 at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Sunday.

Goalkeepers Aly Gleason and junior Emily Oliver combined on the shutout for Stanford (7-1-1 overall, 1-0 in the Pac-12), which extended its shutout streak to five matches -- a total of 503 minutes, 19 seconds. It was the first appearance of the season for Oliver, a 2011 third-team All-American, who had been injured. She entered at the outset of the second half and made one of the Cardinal's three saves.

Arizona State (4-5-1, 0-1) outshot Stanford 6-5 in the first half, but the Cardinal turned on the pressure in the second and outshot ASU, 14-2, during that span.

Natalie Griffen gave Stanford a boost of the bench by scoring her team-leading fifth goal of the season. A pair of short passes from Verloo and Chioma Ubogagu set up Griffen behind the defense for an open shot in the 56th minute.

Stanford increased its lead in the 63rd minute on a Verloo penalty kick after Lo'eau LaBonta was fouled in the penalty area. In the 84th minute, Taylor McCann scored her first goal of the season on a rebound after Griffen's breakaway shot was blocked by Sun Devil goalkeeper Chandler Morris. Verloo's goal was her third in as many games.

Stanford, the three-time defending conference champion, won its 32nd consecutive Pac-10/12 match and extended its home unbeaten streak to 59.

Stanford resumes play Thursday at 6 p.m. at Cagan Stadium against No. 24 Oregon State (9-1, 1-0), in a match expected to have conference title implications.

Women's golf
The Cardinal finished 11th at its first tournament of the year, the Mason Rudolph Women's Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt University in Franklin, Tenn. The Cardinal carded rounds of 302-310-307 (919, +55) to finish 30 strokes behind first-place Arizona.

Lauren Kim led Stanford, finishing tied for 17th. The freshman played with poise, firing rounds of 72-78-76 (226, +10) in her first collegiate event.

"There were a lot of good positives coming out of this event, including the finish by Lauren Kim," said Stanford first-year coach Anne Walker. "She took top 20 in a field loaded with experienced players. Lauren's performance was very good and I imagine she will only continue to improve."

Fellow freshman Mariah Stackhouse finished three strokes behind Kim, tied for 28th. She followed an opening round 75 with consecutive rounds of 77 (229, +13).

Marissa Mar rebounded from an opening-round 81 with rounds of 75-77 (233, +17). She finished tied for 45th. Mariko Tumangan tied for 51st after carding rounds of 76-82-77 (235, +19). Kristina Wong tied for 60th after shooting 79-80-79 (238, +22).

Field hockey
Top-ranked North Carolina downed No. 11 Stanford, 6-2, on Sunday afternoon, snapping the Cardinal's five-game winning streak in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The six-time NCAA champion Tar Heels (9-1, 2-0 ACC) raced out to a 5-1 lead at halftime and held on for the victory over the short-handed Cardinal (6-4, 0-0 NorPac), which was without the services of starters Kelsey Harbin and Maddie Secco. Both players are representing their countries at the Junior Pan American Championships and were missing their third consecutive game.

Stanford went ahead 1-0 in the eighth minute thanks to a goal from Jessica Chisholm, who tipped the ball in for a score following an assist from Becky Dru.

North Carolina responded immediately, tying the contest at 1-1 just 19 seconds later on the first of two goals from Kelsey Kolojejchick.

The Tar Heels proceeded to put the game away with a four-goal outburst that spanned the remainder of the first half.

Trailing 5-2, Lauren Becker produced Stanford's second goal of the game when she converted in the 55th minute off a penalty corner with Dru contributing her second assist.

Stanford next faces California in Berkeley on Friday, Sept. 28 at noon. The contest will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network.

Sailing
As temperatures fell nearly 20 degrees with considerable wind chill, the Stanford sailing team finished sixth to wrap up the St. Mary's (Md.)Fall Interconference while facing a Sunday breeze that swung nearly 180 degrees to the north.

Stanford totaled 114 points in the A Division and 159 in the B Division for an overall total of 273, good for sixth place among the 18-team field.

Oliver Toole and Haley Kirk represented the Cardinal in the A Division as Kiernan Chung-Wolf and Kelly Ortel competed in the B Division.

Stanford registered eight wins and four losses on the weekend in San Diego behind the efforts of Kevin Laube, Jack Ortel and McKenzie Wilson to earn a second-place finish.

— Stanford Sports Information

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