Not a Moment Too SoonNot a Moment Too Soon
Men's Soccer

Not a Moment Too Soon

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Box Score

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Brandon Vincent decided he didn't want the Cardinal's Thursday-night match at Oregon State to head into extra time, delivering his second game-winner of 2014 and lifting No. 18 Stanford to a 1-0 victory over the Beavers in the team's Pac-12 opener at Paul Lorenz Field in Corvallis.

With the horn one minute and 27 seconds away from signaling the end of regulation, Vincent's strike came not a moment too soon. One of the nation's better defenders, the junior continued to display his versatility and the Cardinal's impressive balance and depth.

Vincent gathered a loose ball at the top of the box and fired his timely tally past OSU's (7-3-0, 0-1-0) Matt Bersano into the right portion of the net in the 89th minute. It was the economics major's third goal of the season after entering 2014 with just one score in his first 38 career matches.

"We mounted an attack and managed to get the ball free to Brandon who had a tremendous shot on goal," Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said. "It was blocked and came back out to him. The first attempt was a great strike with his left foot and on the second he just absolutely smashed the rebound with his right."

The win, Stanford's seventh in a row, moves its record to 7-1-0 (1-0-0) on the season. Coupled with No. 13 Cal's 3-2 loss at No. 5 Washington in Seattle, the Cardinal now owns the nation's longest active string of consecutive victories. Its last seven-game win streak came at the start of the 2002 season, when the Cardinal began 11-1 and were NCAA Finalists.

Thursday marked Stanford's first win in its conference opener since a 4-0 result over the Beavers on Oct. 5, 2007 and the first time it came out on top in its road Pac-10/12 opener since beating Washington, 2-0, on Oct. 6, 2006 in Seattle.

"It's really important to get off to a good start," Gunn added. "Every time you can get three points in the Pac-12 is a huge result and it's even tougher to get three on the road. We settled into the game very well, were excellent with passing and dominant with possession. It was just tough to carve out chances in the final third against a very stubborn Oregon State defense."

Andrew Epstein notched his second solo shutout and made a career-high five saves. The sophomore's biggest stop came on his fifth and final one of the evening, when Oregon State's Timmy Mueller broke free with a great chance on goal in the 80th minute. But Epstein was up to the task.

"It was a tough battle for our defenders against some very lively forwards," Gunn said. "They did break through with a great chance on goal late in the game. He had a clear look at Andrew and he managed to repel the shot with a tremendous 1-on-1 save. That was a game changer."

The Cardinal will look to win its eighth straight for the first time since 2001 when it heads north on I-5 for a date with the Huskies on Sunday at 5 p.m. That match will be carried live on the Pac-12 Networks with JB Long and Christopher Sullivan on the call.