What's Next
Unbeaten in 12 straight, No. 3 Stanford (11-1-1, 4-0-1) begins the second half of its Pac-12 schedule when it returns to The Farm for matches against UCLA (7-6-0, 3-2-0) on Friday, Oct. 23 (8 p.m.) and San Diego State (6-5-2, 1-4-0) on Monday, Oct. 26 (7 p.m.). Both games will be carried live on Pac-12 Networks.
Weekend Recap
Stanford stretched its unbeaten streak to 12 with a pair of wins last weekend in Southern California. The Cardinal earned the first win in program history at UCLA on Friday, using a first-half goal from Amir Bashti and a 65th-minute winner from Jordan Morris.
On Sunday, Stanford conceded an early goal to the Aztecs (2’), but responded with three unanswered, including the two from Corey Baird, to beat San Diego State, 3-1.
Freebies
The first 250 Stanford students at Friday's match against UCLA will receive a free Cardinal soccer scarf.
A photo posted by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Oct 21, 2015 at 2:36pm PDT
History vs. Opponents
Stanford is 7-39-8 in 54 all-time meetings with the Bruins dating back to 1973. Friday’s win at UCLA was the Cardinal’s first in Westwood. It had only beaten the Bruins six previous times in 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2000 and 1987 and each of those matches came on The Farm. The win was the Cardinal’s first in the series since October 15, 2010 (2-1).
| Stanford's Wins Against UCLA | ||
| Date | Result | Location |
| October 11, 1987 | W, 1-0 | Stanford |
| October 8, 2000 | W, 1-0 | Stanford |
| November 2, 2007 | W, 2-1 | Stanford |
| October 12, 2008 | W, 2-1 | Stanford |
| October 25, 2009 | W, 2-0 | Stanford |
| October 15, 2010 | W, 2-1 | Stanford |
| October 16, 2015 | W, 2-1 | Westwood |
Stanford is 13-11-7 all-time against the Aztecs in a series dating back to 1976, 6-0-2 in the past eight and unbeaten under Jeremy Gunn. The Cardinal hasn’t dropped a result to SDSU since a 1-0 loss in San Diego on Sept. 30, 2011.
Six Points
Stanford, which Friday earned its first win at UCLA, racked up six points on a conference road trip for the first time since 2006. That season, the Cardinal beat both Washington (Oct. 6) and Oregon State (Oct. 8) on the road by 2-0 scores.
On a Roll
Stanford hasn’t lost since a season-opening setback at UC Santa Barbara, is unbeaten in 12 straight and has won 11 in that stretch. The Cardinal has only had one better run in program history, when it went 20 straight without a loss from Oct. 25, 1996 to Oct. 26, 1997.
Stanford is also unbeaten in its last 13 conference matches dating back to last season, going 9-0-4 over that span.
| Stanford Unbeaten Streaks | |
| Year(s) | Length |
| 1996-97 | 20 |
| 2015 | 12 |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 1980-81 | 11 |
| 2001 | 10 |
| 1980-81 | 10 |
Starts
The Cardinal has won 11 of its first 13 matches for the first time since 2002 when it went 11-2-0. Stanford hasn’t been better than its current 11-1-1 start since it started 2001 12-1-0.
Stanford’s 4-0-1 start to league play is its best as a member of the Pac-12, which started men’s soccer in 2000. The Cardinal began its final season of MPSF play in 1999 with a 4-0-1 mark.
10+ in Three Straight
Stanford has won at least 10 matches for the third straight season under Jeremy Gunn, something it hadn’t done since a seven-year run from 1996-2002 under Bobby Clark and Bret Simon.
Gunn, Clark (1996-2000) and Nelson Lodge (1978-83) are the only coaches in program history to have at least three consecutive double-digit win seasons.
| Most Consecutive 10-Win Seasons in Stanford History | ||
| Year(s) | Length | Coach(es) |
| 1978-1985 | 8 | Nelson Lodge/Sam Koch |
| 1996-2002 | 7 | Bobby Clark/Bret Simon |
| 2013-2015 | 3 | Jeremy Gunn |
It's in the Rankings
Stanford currently sits at No. 3 in the NSCAA Top 25 and has been in the top five for each of the past six weeks. It’s the Cardinal’s first four-week stretch among the nation’s top five since 2001-02. Beginning on September 10, 2001, Stanford held on to a top-five ranking for 18 consecutive polls, including six weeks at No. 1.
| Stanford Week-by-Week Rankings (NSCAA) | |
| Week | Rank |
| Preseason | No. 8 |
| September 1 | No. 16 |
| September 8 | No. 13 |
| September 15 | No. 4 |
| September 22 | No. 3 |
| September 29 | No. 3 |
| October 6 | No. 3 |
| October 13 | No. 3 |
| October 20 | No. 3 |
The Cardinal is No. 9, and tops in the Pac-12, in the official RPI released by the NCAA on Monday. Stanford finished fourth in RPI a season ago, its best in the final report of a season since ending 2002 No. 3 using the NCAA’s official formula.
It's in the Defense
Stanford is among the nation’s defensive leaders, ranking eighth in team goals against average (0.52) and 11th in shutout percentage (0.54). Continuity has led to Andrew Epstein only being called upon for 30 saves thus far and as a team the Cardinal has made 31, an average of 2.38 per game which is the 12th fewest in the country. Epstein’s 0.525 goals against average leads the Pac-12 and is 11th in the NCAA.
| Nation's Top Defenses | |
| Team | GAA |
| St. Francis Brooklyn | 0.33 |
| Wake Forest | 0.42 |
| Creighton | 0.43 |
| Loyola Chicago | 0.44 |
| Lafayette | 0.46 |
| Washington | 0.49 |
| Denver | 0.51 |
| Stanford | 0.52 |
| Western Michigan | 0.52 |
| Coastal Carolina | 0.57 |
Stanford has allowed only seven goals through its first 13 matches, its stingiest defensive start to a season since it only let in six over the same span in 2001. Earlier this year, the Cardinal put together a shutout streak of 469:38, the program’s longest since 2007 (575:51).
Stanford’s seven shutouts this season in just 13 games matches the team’s total from all of 2014. The Cardinal hasn’t had more than seven clean sheets since 2009 (9).
Stanford has allowed only five goals through its first nine matches, its stingiest defensive start to a season since it only let in five over the same span in 2004.
No Place Like Home
Stanford is 6-0-1 at home this season and is 15-1-5 in its last 21 matches at Cagan Stadium. In 2015, the Cardinal has allowed just one goal on The Farm and has a miniscule home goals against average of 0.14.
Destination Stanford
Speaking of home, Sir Alex Ferguson made his second visit to campus in the last four months this past week, discussing his reflections and insights on leadership and management at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business on Monday, Oct. 19.
A photo posted by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Oct 20, 2015 at 4:07pm PDT
In late July, Ferguson and Manchester United used Cagan Stadium for training during their United States tour. The visit continued a trend of top national sides and clubs utilizing the unparalleled facilities and environment of Stanford for training. The USMNT visited campus for camp before the 2014 FIFA World Cup and within the past two years Stanford has also hosted Italian giant Juventus and English side Norwich City.
Always Willing to Help
Stanford is 20th nationally in assists per game (1.92) and 22nd in total assists (25) thanks largely to Corey Baird and Eric Verso. Both are tied atop the Pac-12 rankings with seven total assists (0.54 per game).
Their total assists number ranks ninth in the country and their assists average is 10th. Stanford is the only team in the nation that has two different players with at least seven assists.
Morris Magic
Stanford’s dynamic striker returned last weekend after missing the Cardinal’s previous three matches while helping the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team at the 2015 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship. He scored the winner at UCLA, the equalizer at San Diego State and has now slotted one past the keeper in five straight collegiate matches.
Morris is just the second Stanford player to score in five straight since 1987, joining Darren Fernandez, who did so from September 21, 2002 to October 3, 2002. Box scores prior to 1987 are not readily available.
The Stanford junior, who also added an assist at SDSU, won his second career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor on Tuesday. He’s already matched a single-season career high with six goals in just nine games in 2015 (0.67 goals per game). As a freshman in 2013 he scored that many in 21 appearances.
More Than Just Soccer
Morris, a Type 1 diabetic, is also lending his support to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s (JDRF) “T1D Looks Like Me Campaign” for National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) in November. Among a number of different pieces to the awareness push, Morris will be featured in a Times Square display ad the first week of the month.
A photo posted by jordanmorris1319 (@jordanmorris1319) on Oct 18, 2015 at 3:06pm PDT
Using Their Heads
Stanford isn’t dominating just on the pitch. The Cardinal was honored with the NSCAA Team Academic Award on September 23 and the program’s APR (996) is No. 1 among the nation’s five top-ranked teams.
#3 in the D1 MSO poll + @NCAA APR award + @NSCAACollege GPA award = @StanfordMSoccer. http://t.co/b9P3QPNUS0 pic.twitter.com/QSmRwjfvFf
— NCAA Research (@NCAAResearch) September 30, 2015
On September 15, the Cardinal took advantage of its positioning in a global center for innovation and tech development and visited Facebook, meeting with staffers and getting a tour of campus.
Facebook VisitRight in our backyard »
Posted by Stanford Men's Soccer on Monday, September 21, 2015