Sept. 28, 2003
Stanford-UC Irvine Box Score
California-Fairleigh Dickinson Box Score
STANFORD 4, UC IRVINE 1
Stanford, Calif. - Matt Janusz' two goals and one assist lifted Stanford (2-5-1) to a 4-1 victory over UC Irvine (3-6-0) and the Stanford/Nike Invitational title at Maloney Field on Sunday. All four teams in the tournament finished with identical 1-1-1 records but Stanford won the tournament by virtue of scoring the most goals of any team in the event with five, which was the third tie breaking procedure after head-to-head results and goal differential. No. 18 California, a 2-0 winner over No. 24 Fairleigh Dickinson in the first game on Sunday, finished second. Fairleigh Dickinson was third and UC Irvine placed fourth.
"This victory today was a big confidence builder for us," said Stanford head coach Bret Simon. "It was a nice step in the right direction."
The Cardinal had scored just four goals in its first seven games before matching its total for the year with today's season-high four, snapping a season-long six-game winless streak (0-5-1). The four Stanford goals were the most since the Cardinal earned a 4-1 victory at Oregon State on November 15, 2002.
"It was a big relief to get this victory today," added Janusz, who now leads the team with seven points (three goals, one assist) this season and is Stanford's active career leader in goals (17), assists (9) and points (43). "It felt really good to get a win, because I don't think any of us had ever gone winless in six straight games in anything before. The whole team was really pumped to play this game today."
UC Irvine scored the first goal of the contest at 31:24 when David Yemane picked up a rebound off a shot by Brad Evans' and sneaked the ball by Cardinal goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen into the upper right corner of the goal.
Chad Marshall tied the game at 1-1 on a set piece at 33:15 when he sliced through the penalty box to head in a free kick from Mike Wilson.
"It was good to get the tying goal and help us get back in the game," explained Marshall. "My goal was a beautifully placed ball by Mike Wilson, and I was able to get my head onto it and knock it into the goal."
The score remained tied until Abe Geiger put the Cardinal ahead, 2-1, when he picked up the eventual game-winning goal at 56:41 by taking a pass from Janusz on the left side of the goal and beating UC Irvine goalkeeper Ryan Mathy with a shot across the goal and into the upper right hand corner of the net.
Janusz then scored both of his goals to make the final score, 4-1, with the Cardinal needing both scores to win the tournament's tie breaking procedure. Bret Shimizu sent a cross into the penalty box that was tapped by James Twellman to Janusz near the left post for his first goal at 58:03. Janusz' second goal came when he beat Mathy one-on-one after an Anteater turnover near midfield. Janusz nearly completed the second hat trick of his collegiate career but Mathy stopped another one-on-one breakaway opportunity at 81:08.
"I would have loved to have gotten a third goal, but it's okay to get two," joked Janusz.Janusz and Twellman led all players with four shots each.
Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen (1-3-1) picked up his first collegiate victory in the net. Kartunen recorded four saves, including two athletic stops early in the game when UC Irvine went on a three-shot flurry in the seventh minute. UC Irvine goalkeeper Ryan Mathy suffered the loss despite nine saves.
The Cardinal outshot the Anteaters, 19-10, and held a 3-1 advantage in corner kicks.
Stanford increased its lead in the all-time series with UC Irvine to 5-0-0 as the Anteaters lost for the sixth time in their last seven contests overall.
Stanford will hit the road for a pair of games versus local Bay Area rivals next week. The Cardinal opens the week with its final tune-up for Pac-10 action at Santa Clara on Thursday, October 2 (7 pm, PT) before beginning conference action at California on Sunday, October 5 (2 pm, PT).
"We have two games on the road next week against a pair of very good opponents that are playing well right now," said Simon. "I hope that the positive step we made today will help us in those games next week."
NO. 18 CALIFORNIA 2, NO. 24 FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 0
Stanford, Calif. - No. 18 California (4-4-1) earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory over No. 24 Fairleigh Dickinson (4-2-1) to snap the Knights' five-game unbeaten string and three-game win streak, opening Sunday's action at the Stanford/Nike Invitational at Maloney Field. The victory gave the Golden Bears a 4-1-1 record over their last six games after beginning the season with three consecutive losses. Carl Acosta gave California the only score it would need when he knocked in his team-leading sixth goal unassisted off a Fairleigh Dickinson defender just 9:20 into the contest. Noah Merl gave the Golden Bears another goal when he converted a penalty kick just before halftime at 41:30 after teammate Eric Ebert had been pulled down in the penalty box by a Fairleigh Dickinson defender.
Fairleigh Dickinson was unable to score in the second half despite outshooting California 7-5 after the break. California had held a 10-3 shot advantage at halftime and finished the game with 15 shots, compared to 10 for the Knights.
California goalkeeper Mike Oseguera picked up the victory, while Fairleigh Dickinson's Andrew Nucifora (4-2-1) suffered the loss. Both players posted six saves.
Merl and teammate Mike Munoz led all players with three shot attempts each.
California held a 7-2 advantage in corner kicks.