Sept. 7, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - After a pair of frustrating matches to open the season, Stanford broke through in its home opener to beat Cornell, 2-0, in a nonconference men's soccer match Sunday afternoon at Cagan Stadium.
The first victory coincided with the first goal of the season for sophomore Bobby Warshaw and the first as a collegian for freshman Cullen Wilson. The victory evened Stanford's record at 1-1-1, and may have boosted its confidence after a first-match draw with San Jose State, and a 2-0 loss to No. 7 SMU on Friday.
"There were some really good parts to this game," Stanford coach Bret Simon said. "We got contributions from a lot of players. But we haven't solved anything yet."
Still, it was Stanford's best offensive performance of the season, coming in its second match of the four-team Cal Legacy Classic.
The Cardinal immediately began getting behind the defense, with Michael Strickland providing a pair of passes that nearly led to goals.
The breakthrough came early in the second half. The scoring sequence began with a Tom Montgomery breakaway that was halted by the grip of Cornell defender Jimmy Lannon, who was issued a yellow card. The action led to a Stanford corner kick, and subsequent cross by Ryan Thomas from the right side. Warshaw met the pass at the far post with a scoring header in the 49th minute for a 1-0 lead.
"Ryan provided an absolutely perfect ball," said Warshaw, who led the Cardinal with five goals last season. "Anybody would've scored on that."
A highlight for Stanford was the play of several true freshmen. Tommy Ryan, the only freshman to have played in all three matches, saw Wilson making a run from the right side and played a long ball that Wilson met with a header in the 74th minute to seal the match.
Clayton Holz, another freshman, pumped life into the offense with his play in midfield, sending a back-heel flick to Tim Jones that nearly resulted in a Daniel Leon goal. Holz later first-timed a Michael Alexander pass into a shot stopped only by a spectacular reflex save by Cornell goalkeeper Scott Brody, one of his six saves in the match.
Stanford goalkeeper John Moore made three saves in earning his first shutout of the season, and the eighth of his career.
However, the most satisfying aspect for the Cardinal seemed to be its first multi-goal performance of the season.
"Scoring goals is always fun," Warshaw said. "We've worked hard for them. We know they're going to come."
Stanford has a week before its next match, Sunday (7 p.m.) at USF as part of the Bay Area Classic. The match was originally listed for Saturday, but instead will be played a day later.
Stanford 2, Cornell 0
COR 0 0 - 0
STAN 0 2 - 2
STAN - Warshaw (Thomas), 49th; Wilson (Ryan), 74th.
Records - Stanford 1-1-1, Cornell 0-2.