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Dec. 11, 1997
1997 Campaign Put Stanford On the Map
Season of Success: The 1997 Stanford University men's soccer completed its season with a 13-5-2 overall mark and ranked 15th in the final regular season Soccer America Top 20 poll. Despite ending the season on a five-game skid, the '97 squad established itself as one of the best in school history and put Stanford Soccer on the map. Below are notables from the 1997 season:
- Stanford went undefeated through its first 15 games (13-0-2) and climbed to No. 2 in the country - the highest ranking ever by a Cardinal squad. At one time, the Cardinal owned the nation's longest win streak at 14 games (five consecutive wins at the end of the '96 season and nine straight to open '97).
- The squad set or tied a few school records, further noted below in "Re-Writing the Record Book".
- Of the team's five losses, two came against two of the Final Four teams - #1 Indiana (1-2) and #3 UCLA (0-1, pk) - while a third came against #6 Washington (1-2, 2ot) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal had defeated the Huskies 1-0 earlier in the season. The tournament appearance was just the fifth in school history and the first since 1992.
- Stanford claimed its first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mountain Divsion title, posting a 3-0-1 division mark.
- The Cardinal won three of the four regular season tournaments in which it competed: the UNLV Coors/Light Classic, the Saint Mary's "Fall Soccer Classic" and the Stanford/Nike Invitational.
- Head coach Bobby Clark and several players won numerous accolades for their season performances, further noted in Cardinal honors.
Stanford in the Charts: Stanford finished the regular season ranked 15th in the Soccer America Top 20 poll, 17th in the Soccer News Top 25 poll and 22nd in the NSCAA/Umbro Top 25 poll. The Cardinal returned to the NSCAA/Umbro poll November 17 after a one-week absence. After cracking the NSCAA/Umbro poll (the Cardinal's first ranking of any sort since at least 1992) at No. 15 on September 8, Stanford eventually rose over a 10-week period to its highest ranking ever - No. 2. Stanford has been ranked by at least one of the polls for a school-record 12 consecutive weeks/pollings.
Re-Writing the Record Book: As mentioned before, the '97 squad broke a few team and individual records and nearly broke many more. The Cardinal set school records for the longest winning streak to begin a season and within a season (9), and the longest unbeaten streak to begin a season and within a season (15). The 1996 and '97 squads combined to set school records for longest winning streak (14) and longest unbeaten streak (20). The 14-game winning streak was the longest in the nation at the time. This year's team also tied the school record for shutouts in a season with 12, matching the same number by the 1985 squad. The '97 squad flirted with four other marks:
Record 1997
Wins in a season 16 (1978) 13
*Highest Winning Pct. .750 (1964/10-3-1) .700
Fewest Goals Allowed 13 (1985) 14
Lowest Goals Against Avg. 0.59 (1990 min.) 0.66 (1896 min.)
*Minimum 14 games
Individually, goalkeeper Adam Zapala broke the school record for shutouts in a season and nearly broke the records for fewest goals allowed and lowest goals-against average. His individual accomplishments are further noted in the "Freshmen Sensations" segment.
Freshmen Sensations: Goalkeeper Adam Zapala (Cupertino, CA/Bellarmine Prep) and forward Corey Woolfolk (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer HS) were brilliant in their inaugural seasons at the collegiate level. As mentioned before, Zapala broke the school record for shutouts in a season. His 12 shutouts were two better than the old mark of 10 set by Tom Austin in 1985. Zapala also threatened to break two other school marks held by Austin, including fewest goals allowed in a season and lowest goals against average. He gave up just 14 goals all season, one more than Austin's 13 in 1985. His 0.66 goals against average was just shy of Austin's school-record 0.59, also set in '85. Zapala became just the fourth goalie in Stanford history to record a GAA lower than 1.00 (minimum 900 minutes). His regular season GAA (0.61) was the fifth-best in the entire nation and was second among freshman. Below are the top five goalies in the nation in GAA (Final regular season stats):
Rk. Name (School, Yr.) Games GA Min. GAA 1. Bill May (Washington, Sr.) 16 8 1514 0.48 2. Dani Braga (St. John's, Sr.)14 7 1213 0.52 3. Matt Nyman (Dartmouth, Jr.) 14 8 1346 0.53 4. T.J. Hannig (Indiana, Fr.) 17 9 1402 0.58 5. Adam Zapala (Stanford, Fr.) 19 12 1776 0.61
Woolfolk has made a huge impact as well. The freshman from Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor, Mich, where he was named the state's "Mr. Soccer" and garnered NSCAA/Umbro All-America and Gatorade Regional Player-of-the-Year honors in 1996, contributed heavily as both a goal scorer and a setup man. He tallied five goals and five assists for 15 points. His goal and point totals ranked second on the squad and seventh in the MPSF Mountain Division. His five assists tied him with junior midfielder Simon Elliott (Wellington, New Zealand/Victoria University) for the team lead and for the fourth-highest total in the division.
Statistically Speaking: For the second consecutive year, junior forward A.J. Sauer (Spring, TX/Klein Oak HS) ranked at the top of the Cardinal scoring chart. In 1996, he tied for the team scoring lead with Jamie Clark with 21 points on nine goals and three assists. In 1997, he led the squad outright with 18 points on his career-high-tying nine goals. His point total was the sixth-highest total in the MPSF Mountain Division and tied for 17th in the Far West Region. His nine goals placed him in a tie for second in the division and in a tie for ninth in the region. As a team, Stanford ranked third in the entire MPSF in team goalkeeping (0.66). The Cardinal trailed only Washington, who led the pack with a 0.55 GAA, and UCLA. Offensively, Stanford finished tied for fifth in the conference with 93 points.
Cardinal Honors: Head coach Bobby Clark and several Cardinal players have received honors for their outstanding effort this season. Below is the list of awards garnered thus far (All-America and academic awards have yet to be named):
NSCAA/Umbro Far West Region Coach-of-the-Year
Bobby Clark
MPSF Mountain Division Coach-of-the-Year
Bobby Clark
MPSF Mountain Division All-Federation Team
Jamie Clark/Simon Elliott
Adam Zapala
Shan Gaw (Hon. Mention)
A.J. Sauer (Hon. Mention)
MPSF Player-of-the-Week
A.J. Sauer (Sept. 8)
Jamie Clark (Sept. 21 and Oct. 14)
Soccer America Team-of-the-Week
Adam Zapala (Sept. 22)
Jamie Clark (Oct. 13)
Shan Gaw (Oct. 21)
Stanford-Nike Invitational All-Tournament Team
Jamie Clark, Shan Gaw, Dan Wytock and Adam Zapala
Saint Mary's "Fall Soccer Classic" Offensive MVP
Jamie Clark
Cal-adidas/Foot Locker Legacy Classic All-Tournament Team
Jamie Clark, Shan Gaw and Adam Zapala
Head Coach Bobby Clark: When he first arrived to Stanford in 1996, head coach Bobby Clark inherited a program which hadn't produced a winning season in four years, one which had posted back-to-back 5-12 campaigns. In just two seasons, he has turned the program into a national power. In his two years at the helm he has guided the Cardinal to a 23-9-6 (.684) mark. In his inaugural season, he led Stanford to a 10-4-4 record, the Cardinal's first winning season since 1992. For his efforts, he was named the MPSF's Mountain Division Co-Coach-of-the-Year. In 1997, Clark led the Cardinal to its first-ever MPSF Mountain Division title, its first-ever Top 10 ranking (peaking at #2) and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament in five years. For his efforts, he was named the NSCAA/Umbro Far West Region (IV) Division I and MPSF Mountain Division Coach-of-the-Year. Clark began his collegiate coaching career at Dartmouth in 1985 and before leaving in 1994, he directed the Big Green program to three Ivy League titles, two NCAA Tournament quarterfinal appearances and eight winning seasons in nine years. He was twice named NSCAA/Umbro Northeast Region (I) Division I Coach-of-the-Year. In his 10-plus seasons as a head coach, Clark has amassed an impressive 103-49-19 (.658) record. He has also coached in New Zealand, Zimbabwe and in his native Scotland. In New Zealand, Clark was responsible for re-kindling a Kiwi National team that had been dormant for a year-and-a-half. Upon his arrival, he traveled the country evaluating players in order to fill the national teams. During his two-year stay, he coached all four teams (Senior, Olympic, Under-20 and Under-17). In 1995, he was awarded the Jim McMullen Trophy, an award given to the individual who does the most for New Zealand Soccer. Before entering the coaching ranks, Clark was a professional player in Scotland from 1962-82 and competed on three (1970, '74 and '78) of Scotland's World Cup campaigns. He made more than 800 first team appearances, 696 of which came with Aberdeen F.C.. He helped lead Aberdeen to the 1970 Scottish Cup, the 1976 League Cup and the 1980 Premiere League Championship.
1997 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Standings
Mountain Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
*Stanford 3 0 1 .875 2-0-0 1-0-1 13 5 2 .700 6-0-1 4-3-1 3-2-0 L5
Washington 3 1 0 .750 2-1-0 1-0-0 15 3 2 .800 8-2-0 6-1-1 1-0-2 L1
California 2 2 0 .500 1-0-0 1-2-0 11 6 1 .639 5-2-1 4-2-0 2-2-0 W1
Oregon State 1 2 1 .375 0-1-1 1-1-0 4 12 2 .278 2-6-2 2-6-0 0-0-0 L4
CS Sacramento 0 4 0 .000 0-2-0 0-2-0 4 14 0 .222 3-7-0 1-6-0 0-1-0 L2
* Mountain Division Champion
Pacific Division Overall
W L T PCT HOME AWAY W L T PCT HOME AWAY NEUT STK
*!UCLA 4 1 0 .800 2-0-0 2-1-0 20 2 0 .909 12-0-0 5-1-0 2-1-0 W9
Cal Poly SLO 3 2 0 .600 3-0-0 0-2-0 7 10 0 .412 5-2-0 1-8-0 1-0-0 W2
CSUF 3 2 0 .600 2-1-0 1-1-0 10 10 0 .500 6-3-0 2-6-0 2-1-0 L2
CSUN 2 2 1 .500 2-2-1 0-0-0 7 11 1 .395 7-5-1 0-3-0 0-3-0 W1
UC Irvine 1 3 1 .300 0-1-1 1-2-0 6 9 4 .421 3-4-3 1-5-1 2-0-0 L2
UCSB 1 4 0 .200 0-2-0 1-2-0 4 14 1 .237 1-5-0 3-8-0 0-1-1 L1
* Pacific Division Champion
! MPSF Champion
Final 1997 NSCAA /Umbro Top 25 Poll November 17, 1997
Rk. School Record 1. Indiana 20-0-0 2. So. Methodist 17-2-0 3. UCLA 17-2-0 4. Virginia 16-3-3 5. St. John's 17-3-2 6. Washington 14-2-2 7. South Carolina 16-2-1 8. American 15-3-4 9. Duke 15-5-0 10. Maryland 15-5-1 11. Creighton 15-4-1 12. Boston University 14-5-2 13. Fla. International 14-5-1 14. Saint Louis 14-4-3 15. Rider 15-5-1 16. Bowling Green 17-5-0 17. Gonzaga 14-4-0 18. Va. Commonwealth 15-3-4 19. Rutgers 14-6-1 20. Dartmouth 9-3-4 21. SW Missouri St. 13-4-3 22. STANFORD 13-4-2 23. Marquette 12-5-3 24. UNC Charlotte 12-6-2 25. William & Mary 14-5-2 Others receiving votes: Clemson, Brown, Santa Clara
Soccer America Top 20 Poll November 17, 1997 Rk. School Record 1. Indiana 20-0-0 2. UCLA 17-2-0 3. Southern Methodist 17-2-0 4. Washington 14-2-2 5. South Carolina 15-2-1 6. Virginia 15-3-3 7. Creighton 15-4-1 8. American 15-3-4 9. Maryland 15-5-1 10. St. John's 17-3-2 11. Duke 15-5-0 12. Saint Louis 14-4-3 13. Rutgers 14-6-1 14. Va. Commonwealth 15-3-4 15. STANFORD 13-4-2 16. Clemson 9-6-3 17. Gonzaga 14-4-0 18. SW Missouri State 13-4-3 19. Boston University 14-5-2 20. Fla. International 14-5-1