Nov. 20, 1999
The Stanford men's soccer team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in a heartbreaking cliffhanger of a game Friday night at New Maloney Field against Bay Area rival Santa Clara. The game went through four overtimes in the rain before leading to a final shoot-out.
Santa Clara got the early lead when Bronco midfielder Kyle Smith volleyed in a shot off a cross from defender Eric Denton in the fourth minute. Junior Ryan Nelsen put Stanford on the board when he headed in an assist from defender Chris Gores in the 19th minute. The first 45 minutes of play ended in a 1-1 tie.
In the second half, Stanford scored first when senior defender Andy Hemmerich netted a goal off an indirect free kick in the 62nd minute. Santa Clara answered with a goal in the 77th minute when Smith posted his second goal of the night.
The game proceeded into four overtimes, with each team coming very close to scoring, only to have the ball deflect off the post or to have the ball slip off their foot as they took the shot. The game ended when, after four overtimes, the two teams went to shoot-out. After five made shots for both teams, Santa Clara sank their sixth, and Broncos goalkeeper Rusty Johnson stepped up to save the Cardinal's sixth shot taken by Derek Shanahan.
Although the game is recorded as a tie in the records, Stanford is dropped from the NCAA Tournament, and Santa Clara goes on to play the winner of the Duke UMBC game in the second round. Stanford finishes the 1999 season with a 12-4-3 overall record.
1 2 1ot 2ot 3ot 4ot So Final in Shoot-out Santa Clara 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 3 Stanford 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 2
Scoring Summary SCU: Smith (Denton) 4:33 STAN: Nelsen (Gores) 19:06 STAN: Hemmerich 62:13 SCU: Smith (Chimienti, Eyre) 77:35
SCU Stan. Shots: 19 19 Saves: 8 8 Fouls: 36 25 Corner Kicks: 3 14 Offsides: 4 2
Cautions: SCU -#11, Rodopoulas, Yellow, 54:55 #3, Smith, Yellow, 89:41 #2, Goehring, Yellow, 122:30 STAN-#7, Leber, Yellow, 76:05 #17, Maliza, Yellow, 119:59