STANFORD, Calif. – Zach Batteer scored for the second time in as many games and the Cardinal dominated the run of play, firing off 28 shots to UCLA's nine, as the No. 15 Stanford men's soccer team walked away from Cagan Stadium with a draw after playing No. 2 UCLA to a 1-1 deadlock in front of 1,394 on Sunday night.
Stanford moves to 8-2-1 overall on the season and 2-1-1 in Pac-12 action. It was the Cardinal's first result against UCLA since it defeated the Bruins, 2-1, on The Farm on Oct. 15, 2010. Stanford is off to its best start since 2009, when it also began the year 8-2-1 and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
"We are really happy with that performance tonight," Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said. "We were dominant in every sense of the game. We were incredible in the first half and in the second I still felt we were the better team, but … by the end of the game it's anybody's to take. If it was a boxing match I think we're ahead on rounds. You shouldn't complain about at a tie, but obviously you look at the way we're playing – we're playing to win."
Numerous opportunities came for Stanford in the first 45 minutes, as the Cardinal fired 12 shots and put four on goal while UCLA (6-3-3, 1-1-1) mustered only a Leo Stolz bomb from about 25 yards that went high. Stanford's best chance might have come in the 24th minute. Zach Batteer led Foster Langsdorf into the box with his right foot and the freshman attempted to beat the keeper to the near post, but his volley found the side of the net.
UCLA's first real quality look came in the 49th minute and the Bruins took advantage. Brian Iloski controlled the ball just outside the 18 and fed Aaron Simmons in the center of the box, who flipped it up top shelf and out of the reach of Andrew Epstein.
"That's what's so wonderful and so awful about soccer," Gunn added. "You look at how we played and we were fantastic in the first half. At halftime you're always thinking, 'How are they getting their chances?' That's a question we ask and we didn't have an answer because they didn't have any chances in the first."
It didn't take long for Stanford to find the equalizer, as Batteer put home his second in as many games and 18th of his career in the 57th. Corey Baird made a powerful run and dribbled through the teeth of the defense all the way to the top of the box. With superb vision he played the ball through to Batteer on his left, who beat UCLA's Earl Edwards Jr. to the far post with his left foot.
"I'm really proud with how we responded," Gunn said. "We showed incredible drive and resilience. We want our team to be relentless and I really felt we were that again tonight."
Both teams pushed for the winner in the ensuing 53 minutes. Brandon Vincent unleashed a patented blast with his left in the 75th. The shot was heading on target until it stopped with a painful thud in the gut of a UCLA defender.
Epstein punched out a dangerous cross in the 84th and made a fabulous save in the 102nd minute on a point-blank header from the Bruins' Gage Zerboni.
The Cardinal is now 7-0-3 in its last 10 games at home dating back to last season and 16-7-4 on The Farm under Jeremy Gunn. Stanford returns to action against rival Cal on Monday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. in a game televised on the Pac-12 Networks.