STANFORD, Calif. – Eleven televised matches and nine games against NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago highlight the Stanford men’s soccer schedule, which the reigning conference champions announced on Tuesday in conjunction with the Pac-12 Networks’ release of its 2015 television picks.
Stanford is coming off a historic 2014 campaign, including the program’s first league title since 2001, a No. 1 NSCAA ranking, its most wins (13) since 2002 and its best winning percentage (.763) since 2001. The team, which finished fourth in the nation in RPI, went 13-3-3 overall and 6-1-3 in conference to advance to its second consecutive NCAA Tournament. Stanford has posted back-to-back seasons of double-digit wins for the first time since 2001-02.
Season tickets for Stanford men’s soccer are now on sale online at gostanford.com/tickets or by calling 800-STANFORD. New in 2015, fans are able to purchase a men’s soccer or women’s soccer-only season ticket at a cost of $90 for general admission and $125 for reserved seats, which have an incredible view from just about the team benches in chairbacks.
A combined season ticket is still available for both the men’s and women’s programs. Fans can save 10% on both seasons by purchasing this option at a price of $162 for general admission and $225 for reserved.
Stanford opens its 2015 season with a pair of tough road tests at UC Santa Barbara (August 28) and Louisville (August 31). The Cardinal is 14-5-2 all-time against the Gauchos and has won three straight in the series, including a 4-1 victory on The Farm last September 9. In Stanford’s most recent trip to Santa Barbara in 2013, then-freshman striker Jordan Morris burst onto the scene with his first two collegiate goals, including the 95th-minute winner in a 2-1 triumph in front of 7,750 at Harder Stadium.
The last day in August will mark the first meeting in program history between the Cardinal and Cardinals. Louisville finished 11-8-3 in 2014 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
Stanford’s 2015 home opener comes on Friday, September 4 against Northeastern (7 p.m.) and begins a stretch of three matches at home in the span of seven days. The Cardinal kicks off its live television action at Cagan Stadium two days later when its hosts VCU on September 6 (3 p.m.) before welcoming San Jose State to campus for another televised affair on Thursday, September 10 (6 p.m.).
It will be the Cardinal’s first meeting with both Northeastern and VCU. Stanford is 21-12-5 all-time against the Spartans, which are led by second-year head coach Simon Tobin. Tobin came to San Jose after a 27-year run at CSU Bakersfield where he coached 1993 Bakersfield graduate Jeremy Gunn with the Roadrunners. The current Stanford boss also got his coaching career started as an assistant at his alma mater alongside Tobin.
Stanford’s final non-conference road match comes on Sunday, September 13 in Dallas, Texas at SMU. The Cardinal is 3-2-1 all-time against the Mustangs, with its last win in the series coming in its last trip to SMU for the Mi Cocina Classic on September 5, 2004 (2-0).
The Cardinal wraps up its home non-conference slate with San Francisco on Friday, September 18 (7 p.m.) before another match carried on the Pac-12 Networks with Davidson on Sunday, September 20 (noon).
All but two of Stanford’s 10 league contests will be televised on Pac-12 Networks, including the first four in a row. The Cardinal’s defense of its conference crown begins on Sunday, October 4 at rival California (4 p.m.). Stanford’s trip to Berkeley in 2014 resulted in a thrilling 3-2 victory in which Austin Meyer’s winner in the 103rd minute delivered the Cardinal its second-ever Pac-12 Championship.
Stanford plays host to Washington (October 9; 8 p.m.) and Oregon State (October 11; 1 p.m.) the following weekend before heading south to match wits with UCLA on October 16 (8 p.m.) and San Diego State (11:30 a.m.) on October 18. The Bruins and Aztecs make their return trip to Cagan Stadium on October 23 (8 p.m.) and October 26 (7 p.m.).
The Cardinal are in the Pacific Northwest for matches at Oregon State on Friday, October 30 (5 p.m.) and Washington on Monday, November 2 (7 p.m.). Stanford closes out regular-season action at home against California on Thursday, November 12 at 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
Road matches at San Diego State (October 18) and Oregon State (October 30) are the only two in conference that will not be carried on Pac-12 Networks.
Stanford is the only team in the country returning multiple NSCAA/Continental Tire First Team All-Americans in 2015 in forward Jordan Morris and left back and captain Brandon Vincent.
Morris, who has capped five times for the U.S. Men’s National Team, has become the face of college soccer in the past year. In November 2014 he became the first active collegian since 1995 to appear for the USMNT when he came on in the 76th minute in a friendly against Ireland in Dublin. On April 15, 2015 in San Antonio, Texas, Morris started and scored for the United States against Mexico, becoming the first college player to score for the USA since September 1992.
Morris and Vincent are joined by two of the country’s best freshmen from 2014 in Corey Baird and Tomas Hilliard-Arce. Both made Soccer America All-Freshman squads, Baird was on the NSCAA/Continental Tire All-Far West Region Second Team and Hilliard-Arce made that organization’s All-Far West Region Third Team.
The Cardinal, which welcomes the program’s third straight top-15 recruiting class, also returns four of its top five goal scorers and every minute in goal for a team which led the league in goals against average for the first time since 2002.
Stanford will also host an exhibitions at Cagan Stadium against CSU Bakersfield on August 17 (7 p.m.).