Opening Statement

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 12 Stanford came out firing and did not let up as it delivered a dominating season-opening performance Friday, defeating No. 18 Delaware 4-0 at the Varsity Turf.

Lauren Becker scored twice, while Maddie Secco and Fran Tew added a goal apiece. The Cardinal outshot the Blue Hens 11-9, with nine Stanford players registering at least one shot.

The Cardinal defense had a strong showing, highlighted by an eight-save performance by Dulcie Davies. The junior goalkeeper made multiple highlight saves, particularly on penalty corners, to keep Delaware off the board. Stanford’s backline provided strong support on penalty corners and did well to keep Blue Hens attackers on the wings and away from the front of the goal.

The Cardinal did not wait long to get on the board with Secco opening the scoring at 5:14. Secco capitalized on a rebound off of a Stanford penalty corner opportunity to give Stanford the early advantage.

Becker scored in the 27th minute, chipping a shot into the right side of the cage. The goal extended Stanford’s lead to 2-0 and helped give the Cardinal momentum going into halftime.

The break in action couldn’t cool Stanford, which added a third goal when Fran Tew, who was moving from right to left in the semicircle, unleashed a screaming shot to the top right corner of the cage.

Becker added her second of the day just two minutes later to put the Cardinal up 4-0. Positioned at the top-center of the semicircle, Becker received a nifty pass from Alex McCawley and hammered the ball to the bottom left corner of the cage.

Delaware continued to pressure the remainder of the half but strong play by the Stanford defense and a couple key saves by Davies kept the Blue Hens at bay. The Cardinal continued to have opportunities of its own but was unable to stretch the lead further.

Stanford continues play Sunday at 12 p.m. against Liberty in a rematch of last year’s NorPac Championship game.

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Notes: Saturday’s game was televised live on Pac-12 Network, the first of four appearances this season … It was the first time Stanford scored four or more goals against a top-20 opponent since a 5-1 victory last year against No. 20 New Hampshire (Sept. 6) … Freshmen Sarah Helgeson, Katie Keyser and Millie Stefanowicz made their collegiate debuts … Stanford outscored opponents by four or more goals six times in 2013 … nine Stanford players combined for 11 shots.