Kohler’s Late Goal Propels Cardinal

**SAN FRANCISCO** – Stanford's freshman Charlotte Kohler scored the decisive goal in the 80th minute, leading No. 2 Stanford (1-0) to a 1-0 victory over San Francisco (0-1) on the road in the season opener on Thursday.

Despite controlling the game and registering 30 shots, the Cardinal struggled to score until Kohler's late strike. USF goalkeeper Kira Ybarra was outstanding, making 13 saves, including stops on close-range efforts by Andrea Kitahata in the 7th minute, Maryn Wolf in the 13th minute, and Jasmine Aikey in the 74th minute.

Aikey, who played as a center defender for the first 70 minutes, moved to center forward for the remainder of the match. 

Kohler’s goal came on Stanford’s 27th shot of the night. She intercepted a pass, dribbled toward goal, and fired a shot from outside the box that beat Ybarra to the far post. Earlier, Kohler almost scored in the 37th minute with a long-range shot tipped over the bar by Ybarra.

Senior Haley Craig recorded the shutout for Stanford, facing just three shots from San Francisco and making one save—a tipped shot off the crossbar from Allison Kamansky in the 79th minute. This was Craig’s second career shutout and her fourth career start.

Stanford will next face UC Irvine at home on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Cagan Stadium.

**MATCH NOTES**

- Stanford improves to 26-0 all-time against San Francisco, outscoring the Dons 86-9 in these encounters. The Cardinal has achieved 19 shutout victories, including five consecutive shutouts, against USF.

- Under head coach Paul Ratcliffe, Stanford is 11-0 against USF and has outscored the Dons 48-3.

- Stanford has recorded 21 shutouts in its last 34 matches and extended its unbeaten streak in season openers to 18 matches (17-0-1), with 10 shutouts during this streak. The Cardinal has won its last 14 season openers and is 35-4-2 in season openers, including 19-2-1 under Ratcliffe.

- Stanford held a 30-3 advantage in shots, with a 17-0 lead in the first half and a 13-3 edge in the second half.

- The Cardinal took nine corner kicks while preventing any from USF, having reached double digits in corners five times last season.

- Andrea Kitahata and Maryn Wolf each had four shots, while Kohler managed seven. Stanford placed 14 of its 30 shots on target.

- Six Cardinal players made their collegiate debuts, including Eleanor Klinger, who earned her first career start. Lizzie Boamah, Jaden Thomas, Sammy Smith, and Ella Emri also saw their first action alongside Kohler and Klinger.