STANFORD, Calif. -- Junior goalkeeper Mia Shalit finished with a career-high 15 saves on the night, but Sacramento State could not hold off three-time national champion Stanford for long on Thursday night, falling to the host Cardinal by a 5-0 score in the regular season opener for both teams at Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
It was the second career double-digit save performance for Shalit in her Hornet career, surpassing her previous Sacramento State career high of 11 at Saint Mary's in last year's season opener. The 15 stops for the junior — with 10 of those coming in the second half on Thursday night — rank second on the school's all-time single-match list, trailing only Dawn Anderson's 20 saves against Pacific in 1995.
Her total was also the most by a Big Sky Conference goalkeeper since Southern Utah's Isabella Whitmore had 19 stops against UNLV on Nov. 3, 2019.
The Cardinal (1-0), winners of two of the last five NCAA championships, opened the scoring in the 15th minute to break the seal and Stanford jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the break thanks to scores by Lumi Kostmayer and Samantha Williams in the 32nd and 45th minutes. The host side added two more scores in the second half, including a second by Williams to cap the scoring.
It was the first meeting between the two programs since they met in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Sammy Wong, Ariana Nino, and Darian Louthan, finished with shots, as did Shalit, who came forward to take the final attempt of the night on a last-minute corner by the Hornets (0-1).
Sacramento State remains on the road to start the year, but takes only a short bus ride south to Stockton, Calif., for a Sunday night clash at Pacific. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
