Sept. 21, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford was victimized by an own goal with 21 seconds left for the decider in a 2-1 men's soccer loss to Drake on Sunday afternoon at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal (2-3-1) had fought back to tie the match in the 84th minute when Tom Montgomery took a short pass from Bobby Warshaw in the penalty area and lifted a hard-struck ball into the net for his second goal of the season.
But in the 90th minute, Drake goalkeeper Michael Drozd, who had saved a first-half Warshaw penalty kick, booted a long free kick into the Stanford end. The ball glanced off the head of defender Kevin Huang and inside the post to lift Drake (7-1), ranked No. 19 by Soccer America, to victory in the Stanford/Nike Classic match.
Stanford forced Drozd, who entered the match with five consecutive shutouts, into making seven saves. That doesn't include back-to-back second-half shots by Ryan Thomas that struck the post and the crossbar.
"It's the same old story," Stanford Coach Bret Simon said. "We haven't done a good enough job of finishing our chances. And, at the end of the day, it's a crazy game. These things happen if you don't finish opportunities off."
Stanford got a big lift off the bench from hard-working midfielder Garrett Gunther, whose energy and skills ignited a second-half Cardinal shooting barrage. After five first-half shots, Stanford rebounded with 13 in the second for a season-high 18 in all. The 13 in one half was more than Stanford totaled for 90 minutes in any other match.
Warshaw had a chance to give Stanford the lead after Montgomery was fouled in the box in the 23rd minute. Drozd guessed correctly to make the save, and stopped Warshaw's rebound, before another Stanford follow, by Thiago Sa Freire, was blocked by a defender.
Instead, Drake struck first when Evan Harrison scored in the 44th minute.
Stanford returns to action Saturday (7 p.m.) against visiting Santa Clara in a Bay Area Classic match.
Drake 2, Stanford 1
Drake 1 1 - 2
STAN 0 1 - 1
D - Harrison (Kuhn), 44th
S - Montgomery (Warshaw), 84th
D - own goal.
Records - Stanford 2-3-1, Drake 7-1