Oct. 2, 2003
Santa Clara, Calif. - Stanford (2-5-2) made its final preparations for Pac-10 play with a 1-1 double overtime tie at No. 22 Santa Clara (7-2-3) at Buck Shaw Stadium on a chilly evening Thursday. James Twellman gave Stanford a 1-0 lead in the first half when he put an unassisted goal on a free kick from 20 yards out into the upper right hand corner of the net at 29:15. Santa Clara was able to tie the game at 1-1 when Kelechi Igwe slid a shot into the net after a headed pass on assists by Matt Upton and Ryan Purtell late in the contest at 82:26. The tie extended Stanford's unbeaten string over Santa Clara to eight games, as the Cardinal has posted a 6-0-2 mark versus the Broncos since the last Santa Clara win on November 9, 1997.
"This game was as competitive as college soccer can get," said Stanford head coach Bret Simon. "It was like a street brawl and both teams fought hard."
The teams totaled 47 fouls in the game with Santa Clara picking up 28 and the Cardinal tacking on 19, as well as six yellow cards with three given to each team. Santa Clara held a 17-9 advantage in shots and a 10-1 margin in penalty corners.
Twellman and Igwe led their respective teams and all players with three shots each.Stanford goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen (1-3-2) recorded four saves, including a game saving stop on a shot by Santa Clara's Kirk Fonseca in the first overtime that nearly went between his legs. Santa Clara goalkeeper Steve Cronin stopped three Cardinal shots.
Stanford will open Pac-10 play at California (4-4-1) in the conference opener for both teams this Sunday, October 5 (2 pm, PT).
"We're playing better and better as our young team begins to come together, and California is doing the same," explained Simon when asked about his team's preparations for its Pac-10 opener. "Both teams understand that they need to put together some wins to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. We have to physically get over tonight's game versus Santa Clara, which was very challenging physically and mentally."