Cardinal makes statement

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Nov 27, 2010

[STANFORD-FLORIDA  STATE WOMEN] Top-ranked and unbeaten Stanford left no doubt who is the favorite to win the 2010 women's national championship with a 5-0 victory -- its 35th straight win at home -- Friday night over visiting Florida State in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women's Tournament.

Christen Press broke one and tied another Stanford scoring record.

Her assist on Mariah Nogueira’s header in the 31st minute gave her 41 career assists, breaking the record of Marcie Ward (2000-04).

Press scored on a long-range shot in the 60th minute for her 26th goal of the season, tying Kelley O’Hara’s year-old Stanford single-season record. but she credited Stanford's multi-faceted attack for the decisive win.

"I think a lot of [our success] comes from the fact that we attack from all angles," said Press. "We have our outside backs getting the attack, all three of midfielders, our center backs hold a lot of our possessions. So even when teams play defensive, we try to get around them, over the top, try different things."

The Cardinal, the only No. 1 regional seed, got four second-half goals by four different players to pull away before 2,135 fans at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.

Besides Press, Lindsay Taylor scored in the 56th minute, and Teresa Noyola and Marjani Hing-Glover put the game away with goals in the 78th and 86th minutes, respectively.

The win sends Stanford (22-0-2) to its third consecutive Women's College Cup next weekend in Cary, N.C.

Nov. 26 in Stanford, Calif.
Stanford 5 Florida State 0. Goals: Nogueira 5 (Press, Garciamendez) 31, Taylor 10 (Levin) 56, Press 26 (Case) 60, Noyola 10 (Zurmuhlen) 78, Hing-Glover 4 (Redman) 86.
Stanford -- Oliver, Garciamendez, Verloo, Quon, Case, Noyola, Nogueira, A.McCann, Levin, Taylor, Press.  Subs: Griffen, Shelby Payne, Sydney Payne, McCann, Averbuch, Zurmuhlen, Redman, Thompson, Hing-Glover.
Florida State -- Wys, Jaurena, Kallman, Brockway, Pressley, Short, Huster, DaCosta, Cayman, Stephan, Breezy. Subs: Kleppa, Cobb, Johnson, Lim.
Referee: Colin Arblaster.
Att.: 2,135.