Women’s soccer celebrates senior night with win over SMU

No. 2 Stanford women’s soccer (14-1-1, 8-0-1 ACC) defeated SMU (8-7-2, 2-5-2 ACC) 5-1 on Saturday, closing out its senior night and final home game of the regular season in dominant fashion. 

Before kickoff, the Cardinal honored seniors Jasmine Aikey, Elise Evans, Allie Montoya, Logan Smith and Freya Spiekerkoetter — a group that helped lead the program’s transition from the PAC-12 to the ACC conference last year.

Together, the class of 2026 has contributed to 50 team wins and three-straight deep NCAA tournament runs. Stanford reached the quarterfinal in 2022, the national championship game in 2023 and the College Cup semifinal in 2024. 

Saturday’s match served as recognition of the seniors’ contributions as they head into one final postseason together.

Stanford controlled possession from the start, but didn’t break through until the 41st minute when sophomore Sammy Smith scored her first goal of the season. After a pass from junior Shae Harvey, Smith bent a ball into the back post that bounced past the entire SMU back line, giving the Cardinal momentum heading into halftime.

Redshirt senior Andrea Kitahata, last week’s ACC Offensive Player of the Week, netted two quick goals in the 56th and 58th minutes. Her first came off a cross to the back post from sophomore Eleanor Klinger, and her second was a tap-in after a shot by sophomore Charlotte Kohler rebounded off of SMU’s goalie. 

Fittingly, two seniors scored the final goals to seal the senior night victory. Smith scored her first goal of the year by slotting the ball into near post in the 63rd minute, and Evans followed two minutes later with a finish off a rebound, bringing the Cardinal to a 5-0 lead. The Mustangs scored their only goal off a corner kick with just eight minutes remaining in the match. 

Saturday’s win extended Stanford’s undefeated streak to 11 games and improved its perfect home record to 9-0. The Cardinal continue to lead the nation in average shots per game (23.94) and scoring offense (3.81 goals per game).

Stanford will wrap up the regular season on Thursday with a rematch against rivals Cal. In early October, the two teams faced off and Stanford won 2-0. A win for the Cardinal on Thursday would secure the top seed heading into the ACC Tournament, which begins Nov. 2.

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