IRVINE, Calif. – An eight-goal win over No. 14 Loyola Marymount and a seven-goal win against No. 5 UC Davis highlighted No. 4 Stanford’s first day of action at the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday. The Cardinal, which beat the Lions 13-5 and the Aggies 12-5, advances to face No. 1 USC in one semifinal tomorrow morning at 10:30 a.m.
No. 4 Stanford 13 – No. 14 Loyola Marymount 5
Madison Berggren likes facing LMU. For the second time this season the Stanford freshman had a hat trick against the Lions, this time to lead the Cardinal to a 13-5 win in its first match at the UC Irvine Invitational.
Stanford, up 3-2 at halftime, exploded for six goals in the third quarter to distance itself and secure the victory. The teams held each other for nearly four minutes coming out of the break before the Cardinal fired home six goals in the final 4:14 of the period.
Berggren began the onslaught at 4:14 and Anna Yelizarova followed at 3:37. Gurpreet Sohi scored on Stanford’s next possession to make the score 6-3 and the human biology major rocketed home another at 2:26. Yelizarova notched her second of the period with 1:02 to go and Rachel Johnson tallied her strike with just 24 ticks left and Stanford held a more comfortable 9-4 advantage with one quarter remaining.
The Cardinal wouldn’t stop there, scoring four more times in the fourth, as Stanford outscored LMU 10-3 in the second half. The Lions scored first in the fourth at 7:01, but the Cardinal ended by getting the game’s final four goals. Shannon Cleary and Berggren scored in the third minute of the quarter before Sophia Monaghan put home her team’s first 6-on-5 goal of the morning at 3:30. Cassidy Wiley came on and tallied her third of the year with four seconds on the clock to put an exclamation point on the win.
Julia Hermann played all four quarters in the cage and made five saves.
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 14 Loyola Marymount
Feb. 27, 2016 • Irvine, Calif.
LMU 1 – 1 – 2 – 1 = 5
STAN 3 – 0 – 6 – 4 = 13
Loyola Marymount Goals: B. Alvarez 2, E. Byrne, I. Castro, E. Lee
Loyola Marymount Saves: S. Flores 8
Stanford Goals: Madison Berggren 3, Katie Dudley 2, Gurpreet Sohi 2, Anna Yelizarova 2, Shannon Cleary, Rachel Johnson, Sophia Monaghan, Cassidy Wiley
Stanford Saves: Julia Hermann 5
No. 4 Stanford 12 – No. 5 UC Davis 5
In the teams’ second matchup in less than a week, Stanford again came out on top against No. 5 UC Davis, this time beating the Aggies 12-5 in one quarterfinal. The Cardinal beat Davis 14-5 on Sunday and jumped on its opponent from the start in this one. Stanford scores five times in the first, four times in the second and held a 9-2 edge at the break.
Jamie Neushul did most of the damage for Stanford with her second four-goal outing in the last six days. The junior All-American scored once in the first, once in the second and twice in the third to pace the Cardinal.
Neushul (7:30), Gurpreet Sohi (5:24) and Jordan Raney (4:30) started the offense for Stanford before UC Davis scored its lone goal of the opening quarter with 2:36 on the clock. Sohi (1:29) and Sophia Monaghan (0:44) answered to put Stanford up 5-1 after eight minutes.
The Cardinal scored the first four goals of the second period to go up 9-1 before the Aggies closed with a strike to pull within seven, 9-2. Anna Yelizarova (7:28), Neushul (7:09), Madison Berggren (4:16) and Dani Jackovich (2:37) rattled the cage for Stanford in the second quarter.
A goal from Katie Dudley and two more from Neushul in the third was all Stanford would need. Julia Hermann made six saves in three quarters of work in the cage. Anna Yelizarova came on in the fourth and made six saves of her own.
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 5 UC Davis
Feb. 27, 2016 • Irvine, Calif.
UCD 1 – 1 – 1 – 2 = 5
STAN 5 – 4 – 3 – 0 = 12
UC Davis Saves: H. Cameron 9
Stanford Goals: Jamie Neushul 4, Gurpreet Sohi 2, Madison Berggren, Katie Dudley, Dani Jackovich, Sophia Monaghan, Jordan Raney, Anna Yelizarova
Stanford Saves: Julia Hermann 6, Anna Yelizarova 6
