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After setting a NCAA postseason women’s soccer single-game scoring record in the opening round, Stanford junior Catarina Macario’s encore performance drew another series of rave reviews. Her teammates gave another outstanding performance of their own.
Macario scored twice and top-ranked and top-seeded Stanford beat visiting Hofstra 4-0 in Friday’s second round match.
Madison Haley and Sophia Smith also scored for the Cardinal (20-1), which hosts No. 18 Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Nittany Lions beat Arizona 4-3 in overtime to advance into the third round. The Cardinal beat Penn State earlier in the season and also beat the Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals two years en route to the national championship.
It’s been treacherous going through the first two rounds, with Washington State providing the stunner: a 3-2 road victory over No. 1 seed Virginia. The unseeded Cougars will be playing unseeded West Virginia on Sunday for the chance to reach the quarterfinals.
Colorado gave No. 1 seed North Carolina all it could handle before falling 1-0. Buffaloes goalie Jalen Tompkins recorded nine saves and Colorado had a couple of nice chances late in the match.
Santa Clara pulled off a couple of surprises to reach the third round, beating California and No. 3 seed Oklahoma State to advance to play No. 2 seed USC.
Overall, Pac-12 teams are 11-5, with four (also UCLA) remaining in the postseason. Seven of the nine teams won their first-round game.
“I’m proud of our players for taking care of business,” Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “Hofstra is a quality team and we knew they would give us a good match. We got a goal early but couldn’t break them down until the second half, so I credit our players for staying patient and continuing to attack.”
Stanford won its 15th straight, outscoring its opponents by a 65-6 margin during that span.
Macario didn’t score all the goals but he nailed a good portion of them. Macario upped her on-going school record total to 29 and Stanford increased its overall total to 91, matching a program record.
Kiki Pickett added a pair of assists while Katie Meyer and Lauren Rood combined for the shutout.
Haley opened the scoring in the third minute. Sam Hiatt played Pickett into space on the right wing and Pickett’s cross met the head of Haley, who steered home her 11th tally of for the lead.
Moments later, Macario curled a powerful shot from 25 yards off the post in the seventh minute before Haley rattled the crossbar in the 15th minute. The Pride (16-4-2) settled in defensively and limited Stanford’s chances for the remainder of the period and it was 1-0 at halftime.
Stanford took control of the contest, scoring three goals in under three minutes, beginning with Macario’s free kick in the 55th minute. Macario beat Hofstra’s wall from 25 yards, striking the post en route to her 28th goal of the season.
She scored No. 29 soon after. Smith cut it back from the left wing to Abby Greubel, who quickly set up Macario from inside the box. Forty six seconds later, Pickett cut it back from the end line to the streaking Smith, who smashed it into the net for the final score.
Stanford is unbeaten in its last 40 home games, a streak that dates to Nov. 18, 2016.
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
So, are there any tickets left (i.e. can be purchased) for the BYU vs Stanford Woman’s Soccer Quarterfinals (Friday Nov 29 at 3 pm at Stanford). If so, where do you buy them? (I saw a tweet that all tickets had been sold out 1/2 hour after the Stanford win over Penn State. Is that true? How else can the game be seen?