TEMPE, Ariz. – Senior Kelsey Murray scored four times and sophomore Daniella McMahon filled the box score to lead No. 16 Stanford past Arizona State, 20-8, on Friday night at Sun Devil Stadium.
Stanford (8-3, 5-1 Pac-12) scored the game's first eight goals and led 14-5 at the break. The lead was double digits for most of the second half as the Cardinal won for the fifth straight time, and improved to 8-1 in its last nine games.
McMahon had a game-high eight draw controls and team-high three ground balls, and added a goal. In addition to Murray's four tallies, senior Maggie Nick had three goals and three ground balls, while freshman Ali Baiocco scored twice with three assists.
Senior goalkeeper Allie DaCar was solid once again with seven saves and just five goals allowed for a .583 save percentage. Freshman Trudie Grattan also made a pair of saves in 17:40 of action.
Five minutes in, Nick scored the first two goals of the contest just 21 seconds apart. Within the next minute, McMahon and Baiocco made it 4-0.
Murray and Baiocco sandwiched three goals between a score from senior Dillon Schoen for an 8-0 advantage at the 15:50 mark.
Arizona State (6-7, 1-5 Pac-12) scored the next three, but Nick notched her hat trick to end that streak. Sophomore Areta Buness, Schoen and Murray made it 12-4 with 7:24 left in the half, and Taylor Scornavacco and Julia Persche added the final two of the half.
Buness scored 1:13 into the second half to start a running clock that continued for the remainder of the game. Freshman Galen Lew scored twice, Murray added her final goal, and sophomore Mikaela Watson and freshman Emma Knaus also got in the scoring column in the final half.
Buness added two ground balls to go with her two goals. Stanford led 19-14 in ground balls, 17-13 in draw controls and out shot the Sun Devils, 41-21, en route to reaching the 20-goal plateau for the third time this season.
Next up is a first-place battle and Top 25 rematch on Pac-12 Networks. The Cardinal takes on No. 15 USC (7-4, 5-1 Pac-12) in Los Angeles on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT. Last Sunday, Lew scored a short-handed game-winner in sudden victory overtime to lift the Cardinal over the Trojans at Cagan Stadium. Stanford rallied from a four-goal deficit in the final 13 minutes. A full recap and highlights are here.