What's Next
Unbeaten in 14 straight, No. 4 Stanford (12-1-2, 5-0-2) hits the road for the final time this regular season for matches at Oregon State (7-5-1, 2-2-1) on Friday, Oct. 30 (5 p.m.) and Washington (6-3-5, 2-1-2) on Monday, Nov. 2 (7 p.m.). Monday’s game will be carried on the Pac-12 Networks.
Weekend Recap
Stanford stretched its unbeaten streak to 14 with a draw and a win on The Farm. Playing UCLA and San Diego State for the second consecutive weekend, the Cardinal and Bruins tied, 2-2, on Friday before Stanford scored a resounding 3-1 win over the Aztecs on Monday. Foster Langsdorf scored once in each game while Eric Verso totaled three assists. Jordan Morris, Brandon Vincent and Tomas Hilliard-Arce also found the back of the net for Stanford.
History vs. Opponents
The Cardinal is 31-6-5 all-time against the Beavers in a series dating back to 1988, 11-1-3 in the past 15 and 6-0-1 under Jeremy Gunn. The Cardinal hasn’t dropped a result to OSU since a 1-0 loss in Corvallis on Oct. 23, 2011. Stanford won, 3-0, on Oct. 11 for its largest conference victory since Nov. 2012.
Stanford is 17-32-5 in 54 all-time meetings with the Huskies dating back to 1974. The two played to a scoreless draw at Cagan Stadium on Oct. 9, which snapped what was then the Cardinal’s eight-game win streak. UW’s Ryan Herman made a career-high 11 saves and Stanford held a 28-10 advantage in shots and a 9-1 edge in corners.
What's at Stake
With 17 points and a 5-0-2 record, the Cardinal is currently seven clear of second-place UCLA in the league standings. A win Friday would eliminate Oregon State, California and UCLA from the race for the conference crown. A sweep in the Pacific Northwest would earn the Cardinal its second consecutive Pac-12 Championship and third overall. Stanford has won six Pac-12 matches three times (2014, 2001, 2000), but never seven.
| Pac-12 Standings | |||
| Team | Points | Conference | Overall |
| Stanford | 17 | 5-0-2 | 12-1-2 |
| UCLA | 10 | 3-3-1 | 7-7-1 |
| Washington | 8 | 2-1-2 | 6-3-5 |
| California | 8 | 2-3-2 | 7-5-2 |
| Oregon State | 7 | 2-2-1 | 7-5-1 |
| San Diego State | 3 | 1-6-0 | 6-7-2 |
On a Roll
Stanford hasn’t lost since a season-opening setback at UC Santa Barbara, is unbeaten in 14 straight and has won 12 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.
The Cardinal is also unbeaten in its last 15 conference matches dating back to last season, going 10-0-5 over that span.
| Stanford Unbeaten Streaks | |
| Year(s) | Length |
| 1996-97 | 20 |
| 2015 | 14 |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 1980-81 | 11 |
| 2001 | 10 |
| 1980-81 | 10 |
Stanford’s 14-match unbeaten streak is currently tied for second in the nation with Denver and Monmouth. Creighton has won 15 in a row. Georgetown (12), Clemson (11) and SMU (10) are the only other schools that own active 10-game stretches without a loss.
Starts
At 12-1-2, the Cardinal is off to its best start since it began 2001 13-1-1. Stanford’s 5-0-2 start to league play is the best in program history across affiliations with the Pac-12, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), PSC (Pacific Soccer Conference) and West Coast Intercollegiate Soccer Conference (WCISC).
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 |
Wins
Stanford’s 12 wins are currently tied for 10th in program history with the 2009, 1999, 1991, 1998, 1985, 1983 and 1981 squads.
One more victory would move this year’s team into a tie for seventh (2014, 1997, 1982). Only six Cardinal sides have ever won 14 or more games (14 - 1979; 16 - 1978; 17 - 2002; 18 - 1998 and 2000; 19 - 2001).
Staying Ahead
Always Willing to Help
Stanford is ninth nationally in assists per game (2.13) and 12th in total assists (32) thanks largely to Eric Verso and Corey Baird.
Verso leads the conference and is third nationally in both total assists (10) and assists per game (0.67). Baird’s seven assists are 18th in the country and his 0.47 assists per game average is 22nd.
Stanford is the only team in the nation that has two different players with at least seven assists.
More Verso
Verso, who has one in five straight matches, is one of just six players in the country with 10 or more assists along with West Virginia’s Joey Piatczyc (12), Wake Forest’s Jack Harrison (11), UCSB's Geoffrey Acheampong (10), Creighton's Fabian Herbers (10) and Georgetown's Alex Muyl (10).
He is just the 10th Stanford player since 1980 to reach that number and the fifth since 1985.
| Stanford Players With 10+ Assists Since 1980 | ||
| Player | Year | Assists |
| Ted Rafalovich | 1981 | 17 |
| Ryan Nelsen | 2000 | 16 |
| Ted Rafalovich | 1980 | 16 |
| Roger Levesque | 2002 | 13 |
| Jorge Titinger | 1982 | 12 |
| Todd Dunivant | 2002 | 11 |
| Walter Kingson | 1983 | 11 |
| Eric Verso | 2015 | 10 |
| Matt Moses | 2000 | 10 |
| Giancarlo Ferruzzi | 1984 | 10 |
Verso’s 16 career assists are tied for 23rd among active collegians.
Morris Magic
Stanford’s dynamic striker returned two weeks ago 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.
Since coming back, he scored the winner at UCLA, the equalizer at San Diego State and the go-ahead goal against the Aztecs this past Monday, his 21st birthday.
In his last seven appearances for the Cardinal, Morris has six goals, two assists and 14 points. He’s scored seven times in 11 matches in 2015 (0.64 goals per game) and by taking the pitch Friday at Oregon State will reach the necessary threshold to begin appearing in the national statistics in goals and points per game (appearing in 75 percent of team’s games). His goals per game and points per game totals (1.45) top the Pac-12, where the requirement is to appear in 50 percent of your team’s games.
More Morris
Earlier this season, Morris slotted one past the keeper in five straight collegiate matches, becoming just the second Stanford player to do that since 1987. Darren Fernandez did so from September 21, 2002 to October 3, 2002. Box scores prior to 1987 are not readily available.
Morris’ seven goals are already a single-season career high. As a freshman in 2013 he scored six 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
It's in the Rankings
Stanford currently sits at No. 4 in the NSCAA Top 25 and has been in the top five for each of the past seven 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 |
| October 27 | No. 4 |
The Cardinal is No. 8, 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 12th in team goals against average (0.63).
Continuity has led to Andrew Epstein only being called upon for 36 saves thus far and as a team the Cardinal has made 37, an average of 2.47 per game which is the 10th fewest in the country.
Epstein’s 0.644 goals against average is second in the Pac-12 and is 17th in the NCAA.
| Nation's Top Defenses | |
| Team | GAA |
| St. Francis Brooklyn | 0.31 |
| Loyola Chicago | 0.38 |
| Wake Forest | 0.43 |
| Denver | 0.47 |
| Lafayette | 0.49 |
| Western Michigan | 0.50 |
| Washington | 0.52 |
| Creighton | 0.56 |
| Clemson | 0.61 |
| Kentucky | 0.61 |
| Charlotte | 0.62 |
| Stanford | 0.63 |
Stanford has allowed only 10 goals through its first 15 matches, its stingiest defensive start to a season since it let in the same number in 2002. 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 15 games matches the team’s total from all of 2014. The Cardinal hasn’t had more than seven clean sheets since 2009 (9).
Destination Stanford
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.
All CLASS
On Monday, Brandon Vincent was named one of 10 men’s soccer Senior CLASS Award finalists for his accomplishments in the classroom and community, and on the field.
Checks all the boxes. Vote Brandon for @SnrCLASSAward » https://t.co/OUAu4aKtOu #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/mLgyxN8fdv
— StanfordMen'sSoccer (@StanfordMSoccer) October 28, 2015
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