SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Jimmy Callinan had gone 65 career matches without ever scoring a collegiate goal, but in his 66th on Friday night the senior captain's 54th minute tally was the highlight of the No. 11 Stanford men's soccer team's 3-0 win at USF.
Playing in his hometown and just down the street from where he starred as a prep at St. Ignatius, Callinan put home his meaningful mark with the help of Foster Langsdorf and Eric Verso. Langsdorf played the ball to the far post and Verso, who was able to get it across the face of the goal to Callinan and a tap from the senior captain put Stanford up 2-0.
"It's awesome and you're just so happy for him," Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said of his captain's goal. "He's been fantastic this year and is leading the team so well. You can see how desperate he is to score and how desperate he is to help the team. That's a great one for him. I'm sure he'll sleep well tonight."
"I rushed to the sideline and all the guys who've been putting in the work all year with me were super excited," Callinan described. "Just to see their jubilation that we were up another goal and I knew they were aware it was my first, that really pumped me up and the rest of the team as well."
Callinan, who has three assists this season, became the 11th different Stanford (9-2-2) player to score a goal in 2014. That large number of varied offensive weapons leads the Pac-12.
Big shoutout to former @StIgnatius star Jimmy Callinan, who got the first goal of his Stanford career tonight vs. USF. Cardinal captain, too
— Matthew Snyder (@schnides14) October 25, 2014
His defining score came in the second half after the team leader in that category, Brandon Vincent, put home his sixth on a penalty in the 32nd minute. A Dons' (8-4-2) defender was dispossessed just outside the box and Zach Batteer raced on goal, tiptoed past the keeper and fired his shot on frame. Without any real option, USF defender Joshua Smith reacted and stopped Batteer's attempt with an outstretched right hand.
Smith was given a red card for the intentional hand ball, Vincent buried his second penalty kick of the year and the Dons played the game's final 58 minutes down a man.
"They're a very good team having a very good season so we knew it was going to be a tough test coming up here," Gunn said. "We managed to be in the final third attacking and the guy just had one of those natural reactions trying to save the team. We score the penalty and they're a man down. It certainly makes life a lot easier for us."
Jordan Morris iced the match with his third goal of the season in the 70th minute when Batteer clipped a ball in for Morris to run on to. The sophomore didn't need to do too much and had a clean, neat finish.
Despite being down a man, the Dons continued to be lively and in the 52nd, Andrew Epstein made two big saves to preserve the clean sheet. Following a foul, Miguel Aguilar was stoned a point-blank range by Stanford's sophomore keeper. The rebound went to the foot of Jesus Del Toro, whose one-timer was also shut down by Epstein.
"When you're playing against 10 men the chances they're going to get are going to come off of set pieces," Gunn said. "That's something we have to improve on. But the other team is always going to have a couple looks on goal and Andrew did his job on those two. Other than that we were rock solid."
Stanford finished the non-conference portion of its schedule 7-1 and outscored those eight opponents 18-6. The Cardinal will return to Pac-12 play next Thursday in Westwood when it plays at UCLA at 8 p.m. in a match televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
"I think a win like we had tonight definitely helps," Callinan commented. "Besides Creighton we haven't lost a game out of conference and this just shows the rest of the country that every team we play we can compete against and dominate. In the Pac-12 the teams are all top-20, top-25 in the country. This just gives us more confidence heading into the second half of the season that we can win the Pac-12."