| STATISTICS | ||
|---|---|---|
| STANFORD | SMU | |
| GOALS | 3 | 2 |
| SHOTS | 16 | 7 |
| CORNERS | 6 | 2 |
| SAVES | 2 | 2 |
| GOAL SCORERS | Vincent (10') | Boorom (62') |
| Morris (47') | Cichero (88') | |
| |
E. Verso (108') | |
STANFORD, Calif. – Eric Verso, who nearly won it for No. 13 Stanford at the end of the first overtime period, sealed his team’s fifth straight victory with a winner in the 108th minute to lift the Cardinal to a 3-2 victory at SMU on Sunday night.
The Cardinal (5-1-0) returns to The Farm to wrap up its nonconference slate next weekend, hosting San Francisco (2-4-0) on Friday, September 18 at 7 p.m. and Davidson (2-1-1) on Sunday, September 20 at noon. Mini plans and single-game seats are available by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or calling 800-STANFORD.
TURNING POINT: Corey Baird beat his man out wide and got in behind the defense in the 108th minute. Verso ran onto his cross and finished far post. It was Verso’s 12th career goal, his first of 2015 and his sixth career game winner. Baird has registered an assist in three straight games.
SECOND TIME: Verso came inches away from ending the match in the final minute of the first overtime. Jordan Morris dribbled the ball to the end line in the 100th and crossed it back to the top of the six-yard box. Foster Langsdorf made a dummy run and left it for Verso. Verso rocketed it on frame, but the Mustangs’ Michael Nelson recovered across the goal and tipped the ball just enough to guide it up and hit the crossbar.
JEREMY GUNN: SMU is a fantastic program. To come here and pick up a result on the road is great for our players. Tonight showed the strength, resiliency and unity of this group to keep going. When your opponent gets back level after you’re up two goals, that’s a time when a team can fold. It’s a great compliment that we were ready to keep playing, keep chasing the game and keep looking for the win.
STARTING STRONG: Stanford jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from All-Americans Brandon Vincent and Jordan Morris. Vincent converted the third penalty of his career in the 10th minute after Morris was brought down in the box. It was Vincent’s first goal of the season, the eighth of his career, and his seventh in Stanford’s last 22 matches. The senior co-captain began his Cardinal career with one goal in his first 41 games. His goal Sunday was the earliest for the Cardinal since it put home two in the first 10 minutes of a 4-1 win against UC Santa Barbara last September 9.
ADDING TO IT: Jordan Morris is responsible for two of Stanford’s four goals away from Cagan Stadium this season. He scored the winner in the 81st at No. 18 Louisville on August 31 and gave the Cardinal a 2-0 advantage with a strike in the 47th on Sunday, the 12th of his career. Morris ran on to an Eric Verso cross and volleyed it out of the air first time for a spectacular finish.
SHUTOUT STREAK SNAPPED: Freshman Christian Boorom scored his first collegiate goal for SMU (2-2-2) 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).
LATE EQUALIZER: Stanford hadn’t allowed two goals in one period since October 5, 2014 at Washington, but SMU’s Mauro Cichero was successful on a free kick from 25 yards out in the 88th minute to force overtime.
JEREMY GUNN II: SMU got back into the game on a good first goal and it’s 2-1. Late in the game Cichero’s free kick makes it 2-2 in a game where we’ve been in charge of throughout. We re-grouped after being put in a dogfight.
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).
JEREMY GUNN III: We’ve started very, very well to win five in a row. We are playing some great attacking soccer and defending well as a group. We are winning games sometimes only by a goal, but in fairness to the players, we’ve managed to put in some pretty dominant performances.
OT: Stanford, which was 3-1-3 in overtime matches a season ago, is 8-1-7 in its last 16 games over 90 minutes.
