LOOKING AHEAD: The No. 4 Stanford men’s soccer team (5-1-0) wraps up its nonconference schedule this weekend when it hosts San Francisco (2-4-0) on Friday, September 18 (7 p.m.) and Davidson on Sunday, September 20 (noon). The match with the Wildcats will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks with J.B. Long and Christopher Sullivan on the call.
WEEKEND RECAP: Stanford continued its strong start to 2015 with wins last weekend against San Jose State (1-0) and SMU (3-2). On Thursday, Foster Langsdorf and Corey Baird connected for the second consecutive game to lift the Cardinal to a 1-0 home win over the Spartans. Three days later, Stanford went up 2-0 at SMU on goals from Brandon Vincent (10’) and Jordan Morris (47’), but the Mustangs stormed back and leveled the match on a free kick in the 88th minute to force overtime. In the 108th, Corey Baird beat his man out wide and Eric Verso ran onto his cross and hammered it home to seal Stanford’s fifth straight victory.
VS. SAN FRANCISCO: Stanford is 13-19-6 all-time against the Dons, but is 6-0-1 in the last seven. USF’s most recent victory came on Sept. 16, 2007 in double overtime (2-1) at the Bay Area Classic in Santa Clara, Calif. Last October 24, Stanford closed out the 2014 nonconference portion of its schedule with a 3-0 decision over USF on The Hilltop. Goals were scored by Brandon Vincent (32’), Jimmy Callinan (54’) and Jordan Morris (70’).
VS. DAVIDSON: The Cardinal has met Davidson twice before, winning matches on September 23, 2007 (2-0) and September 2, 1995 (1-0). The victory eight years ago came on The Farm as part of the Stanford/Nike Invitational. In 1995, the win came in the Stanford’s first game of the season at the Wake Forest Tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C.
BUNCHES OF WINS: The Cardinal has now had winning streaks of at least five games in each of the past three seasons. Stanford last did that from 2000-02 when it was NCAA quarterfinals (2000), NCAA semifinalists (2001) and NCAA finalists (2002). Stanford’s five-match winning streak is tied with four other schools for second in the country and its five overall victories are also tied with nine others for the second spot in the nation. Elon is 6-0 and first in both categories.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: In its last 17 matches on The Farm, the Cardinal is 12-1-4. Over that time, Stanford has outscored its opponents at home, 29-10, and not allowed more than one goal in any of the 17 contests.
SHUTOUT STREAK SNAPPED: Freshman Christian Boorom scored his first collegiate goal for SMU in the 62nd minute, the first allowed by the Cardinal since the season opener at UC Santa Barbara. The Cardinal’s shutout streak ended at 469:38. The stretch was its longest since 2007 (575:51).
STRONG STARTS: Stanford has gotten off to strong starts each of the last three seasons. Since 2013, the Cardinal is 16-3-1 in the months of August and September, including an 11-1-1 mark at Cagan Stadium.
GETTING DEFENSIVE: Stanford is among the nation’s defensive leaders, ranking 20th in team goals against average (0.48) and 13th in shutout percentage (0.67). Continuity has led to Andrew Epstein only being called upon for 11 saves thus far, an average of 1.83 per game which is the 12th fewest in the country. The Cardinal has had consistency at the back, with Brandon Vincent, Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Brian Nana-Sinkam starting together in 24 of the team’s last 25 games along with Andrew Epstein in goal. Nana-Sinkam missed one match last year (SJSU) due to injury. Sophomore Drew Skundrich has slid into Jimmy Callinan’s position at right back. Callinan had started 56 straight games for the Cardinal to end his career.
MORE MEXICO POSSIBLE FOR MORRIS: On Tuesday, junior forward Jordan Morris was named to the 35-man provisional U.S. roster for the Confederations Cup playoff in Pasadena, California against Mexico on October 10. The provisional team must be cut down to 23 players by October 1. The U.S. U-23 team is also on the radar for Morris, which will be attempting to qualify for next year’s Olympics in early October with matches against Canada (October 1), Cuba (October 3) and Panama (October 6). By listing him Tuesday, however, Jurgen Klinsmann gave himself the option of calling up Morris for the playoff.
NOT JUST JORDAN: While the Cardinal roster boasts the most recognizable name in college soccer in that of junior Jordan Morris, the forward isn’t the only player involved with U.S. Soccer. In early August, sophomores Corey Baird and Tomas Hilliard-Arce and senior co-captain Brandon Vincent were called by U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team head coach Andi Herzog to the first College Identification training camp at the U.S. National Training Center. The camp, which was comprised of 28 collegians, allowed the United States to scout a new crop of players as the team continues preparations ahead of October qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Baird assisted on the first and Vincent scored the United States’ third goal in its 3-1 win over Club Tijuana’s Segunda Premier Team, a result which wrapped up the camp on August 7. Stanford’s three selections to the camp tied with Maryland for the most in college soccer.
STANFORD’S HUMBLE STAR: Jordan Morris made headlines in January when the U.S. Men’s National Team forward announced his decision to return to school for his junior year citing the fact that his “teammates, coaches, professors and peers make Stanford a special place [where he is] provided the unique opportunity to both play the game [he loves] and learn at one of the world’s great universities.” The Mercer Island, Washington native has earned six caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team in the past year. In November 2014 he became the first active collegian since 1995 to appear for the USMNT when he came on in the 76th minute in a friendly against Ireland in Dublin. On April 15, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas, Morris started and scored for the United States against Mexico, becoming the first college player to score for the USA since September 1992. He is the third Cardinal to appear for the USMNT. Todd Dunivant capped twice in 2006 and three-time MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall did so 11 times from 2005-10.
AND AMIR: Freshman Amir Bashti, a San Jose Earthquakes Academy product, is also a veteran of the U.S. Soccer system and recently returned from the Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament in Serbia with the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team. Bashti came on in the 32nd minute of the United States’ 6-1 loss to France in Senta on September 4 and entered a 2-0 victory over Israel in Backa Topola on September 7 in the 78th minute.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS: Stanford is the only team in the country welcoming back multiple NSCAA/Continental Tire First Team All-Americans in Morris and Brandon Vincent. Vincent returns to The Farm for his senior campaign after co-captaining the Cardinal to its best season in a decade in 2014. In addition to receiving first team All-America honors, he was also the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year, an All-Pac-12 first team selection and earned his second consecutive Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention nod. Precipitated by a move to left back prior to the season, Vincent exploded offensively while championing Stanford’s stout defense. He led the team and was tied for 13th in the conference with six goals after entering 2014 with just one goal in his first 38 career matches.
HERMANN TROPHY WATCH: Both Morris and Vincent were also tabbed as potential contenders for the 2015 Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy. Thirty men and 28 women from NCAA Division I schools made the watch lists. Along with Jane Campbell and Andi Sullivan on the women’s side, Stanford is the only institution in the country with multiple players named to both lists.
ALL CLASS: Brandon Vincent was named one of 30 men’s soccer Senior CLASS Award candidates for his accomplishments in the classroom and community, and on the field.
DESTINATION STANFORD: In late July, Manchester United used Cagan Stadium for training during their United States tour. The visit continued a trend of top national sides and clubs utilizing the unparalleled facilities and environment of Stanford for training. The USMNT visited campus for camp before the 2014 FIFA World Cup and within the past two years Stanford has also hosted Italian giant Juventus and English side Norwich City.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2014: Stanford had a historic season in 2014, including the program’s first league title since 2001, a No. 1 NSCAA ranking, its most wins (13) since 2002 and its best winning percentage (.763) since 2001. The team went 13-3-3 overall and 6-1-3 in conference to advance to its second consecutive NCAA Tournament. Stanford has posted back-to-back seasons of 10+ wins for the first time since 2001-02.
MAJORS: The following are declared majors for Stanford players. Stanford students declare their majors as juniors, so this list includes only upperclassmen:
- Adrian Alabi (electrical engineering), Nico Corti (political science), Andrew Epstein (electrical engineering), Trevor Hyman (product design), Slater Meehan (management science and engineering), Jordan Morris (science, technology and society), Brian Nana-Sinkam (product design), Ty Thompson (economics), Eric Verso (management science and engineering), Mark Verso (public policy), Brandon Vincent (economics)
