Sept. 25, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford completed a perfect weekend by knocking off Vermont, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon at Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal improved to 3-4-1 with the win and is back on track with an three-game unbeaten streak.
"We had our backs to the wall this weekend," said head coach Bret Simon. "We had to win two games this weekend against a pair of quality opponents and we were able to do just that."
The Cardinal jumped in front in the seventh minute off a corner kick. Eric Anderson crossed a ball to the middle that Adam Jahn controlled and fired on goal. His shot was deflected back to Hunter Gorskie who hit it first time for the first goal of his Stanford career.
The Cardinal held the lead for just 20 minutes before Vermont got on the board. Jason Dodson made a pair of nice saves, but eventually the Catamounts broke through on a corner kick. Juan Peralta's corner found the boot of Yannick Lewis for his fourth goal of the season.
The game stayed tied until half, with Vermont holding the edge in shots, but Stanford having the majority of possession. Dodson made three of his four saves in the half to keep things tied.
Stanford did not wait long to grab the lead in the second half as the Cardinal made it 2-1 in the 48th minute. Garrett Gunther dribbled in the right wing and played a perfect through ball in the air to a streaking Dersu Abolfathi. The Cardinal junior finished with one touch in front of the sliding Vermont goalkeeper. It was a fantastic goal started with the pass and completed with a top class finish by Abolfathi for his second goal of the season.
The goal seemed to deflate Vermont as the Cardinal began to control play and create several chances to add to its total. The third Stanford goal never came, but the 2-1 advantage was enough and the Cardinal prevailed.
The win finished the non-conference season and Stanford will now enter Pac-12 play. The Cardinal will start on the road by traveling to Southern California to take on San Diego State and UCLA.
"Going to Southern California is always tough, but we are looking forward to getting into Pac-12 play" said Simon.