Stanford (18-2-3, 7-1-2 Pac-12)
Statistics NCAA Statistical Rankings Last Ones Standing Goal Achieved
2015 NCAA Champions
Stanford's magical season was capped with the program's first national championship in its 100-plus year history when the Cardinal routed Clemson, 4-0, at Sporting Park in Kansas City on Dec. 13.
The Cardinal scored the most goals in an NCAA final since 1996 and won by the largest margin since 1975, tying for the highest-margin in College Cup history.
The win extended the school's streak of at least one NCAA team championship to an ongoing record 40 years and was Stanford's 108th NCAA team title.
Stanford became the fifth school to capture men's and women's Division I soccer titles, following the Cardinal women in 2011. Jeremy Gunn became one of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, following his 2005 crown at Fort Lewis.
The Best
Jordan Morris capped a storybook collegiate career on Jan. 8 when he was named the winner of the 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy, college soccer's highest honor.
Morris became the first Stanford men's player to earn the MAC Hermann Trophy. The Cardinal women boast three Hermann Trophy winners in Kelley O'Hara (2009), Christen Press (2010) and Teresa Noyola (2011). Stanford is one of four schools to have both men's and women's winners of the award, along with Virginia, Notre Dame and Penn State.
The best. Your 2015 Hermann Trophy winner » @jordanmorris1319. #GoStanford
A photo posted by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Jan 8, 2016 at 4:22pm PST
The Most Outstanding Player at the College Cup, Morris' two goals against Clemson were the first multi-goal effort for a player in a title game since 1997.
The Pac-12 Player of the Year, Morris had a career-high 13 goals in 18 appearances for Stanford in 2015. In his final 14 games with the Cardinal, the junior had 12 goals, three assists and 27 points. He finished fifth in the country in game-winning goals (6), fifth in goals per game (0.72), seventh in total goals (13) and 12th in points per game (1.61).
Pros
For just the fourth time in program history, and first in 13 years, Stanford had at least three players selected in the MLS SuperDraft when Brandon Vincent, Eric Verso and Ty Thompson heard their names called.
Vincent became the second-highest Cardinal selection in MLS SuperDraft history when he was tabbed with the fourth overall pick by the Chicago Fire.
He was the seventh Stanford player taken in the first round and second under head coach Jeremy Gunn, following JJ Koval going ninth to the San Jose Earthquakes in 2014. Chad Marshall, who went No. 2 to the Columbus Crew in 2004, and Ryan Nelsen, another fourth overall selection by D.C. United in 2001, are the only other Cardinal to go in the draft's top five.
Eric Verso was chosen in the second round with the 34th overall pick by the Montreal Impact and Ty Thompson was taken in the fourth round with the 69th overall pick by the San Jose Earthquakes.
Going Home
Jordan Morris signed the most anticipated Homegrown Player contract in MLS history when he inked a deal with the Seattle Sounders in late January.
Morris, who earlier in the month announced his intention to forgo his senior season on The Farm, chose his hometown Sounders despite attempts to entice him abroad. The striker had a training stint with German Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in Turkey before making his decision.
More Than Just Soccer
Morris, a Type 1 diabetic, also lent 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 was featured in a Times Square display ad the first week of the month.
Times Square treatment. #GoStanford #NDAM #JDRF #T1DLooksLikeMe
A photo posted by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Nov 4, 2015 at 2:19pm PST
U.S. Soccer
Stanford student-athletes enjoyed a strong connection to U.S. Soccer at various age levels in 2015, headlined by Morris, who missed five collegiate matches due to responsibilities for his country.
He split time between the senior team, making six appearances with the MNT in 2015, while also earning 11 caps with the U-23s, scoring six goals and tallying four assists. With the USMNT, Morris scored against Mexico on April 15 and assisted on the game-winning goal against the Netherlands on June 5. His first senior cap came on Nov. 18, 2014 against Ireland in Dublin.
Vincent was pulled away from the MLS Combine after just one day when he was added to the U.S. Men's National Team roster for its January training camp in Carson, Calif. The 2015 College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player earned his first MNT cap alongside Morris on Feb. 5 when he came on for the second half of a 1-0 win against Canada at StubHub Center.
A photo posted by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Jan 8, 2016 at 2:58pm PST
Both were also called into camp by U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Andi Herzog in advance of the team's home-and-away playoff against Colombia, which determined the final berth in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Freshman Amir Bashti had three stints with the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team, making rosters for the Dallas Cup in March 2016, a January 2016 training camp in Miami and the Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament in Serbia in September 2015.
Corey Baird, Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Vincent were three of 28 collegians called by Herzog to Carson, California for a College Identification training camp running from August 5-8, 2015 at the U.S. National Training Center.
All-Americans
For the second consecutive season, Jordan Morris and Brandon Vincent were named NSCAA First Team All-Americans when the National Soccer Coaches Association of America announced its individual player awards on Dec. 11.
Morris and Vincent are the first men's soccer players in Stanford history to win first team All-America honors in back-to-back seasons and just the fifth and sixth multiple All-Americans of any sort.
Roger Levesque was a second team All-American in 2001 and named to the third team in 2002, Lee Morrison earned a second-team nod in 2000 before jumping up to the first team a year later, Jamie Clark was on the second team in 1997 and the first team in 1998 and Klas Bergman earned two straight honorable mention nods in 1963 and 1964.
All CLASS
On Dec. 10, Brandon Vincent was named a Senior CLASS Award Second Team All-American 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
Academically, the senior owned a 3.3 GPA and was twice a Pac-12 all-academic selection. Vincent graduated two quarters early, finishing his studies at the end of the fall session.
Academic All-Americans
On Dec. 17, Ty Thompson was named an NSCAA Scholar Second Team All-American, the first Cardinal to earn such an honor since Bobby Warshaw and Dominique Yahyavi both made the second team in 2010. Thompson, who graduated two quarters early along with Vincent, is the 14th NSCAA Academic All-American in Stanford history.
Thompson and Andrew Epstein took up two of the 15 spots on the NSCAA Division I Men's Scholar All-West Region team and were the only Pac-12 representatives named. Stanford was also the only school in the west that had multiple student-athletes receive scholar all-region recognition.
Andrew Epstein and Eric Verso were named to the 2015 Academic All-America® Division I third team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Nov. 24.
The two are the fifth and sixth CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in Stanford history and the first since 2010, when Bobby Warshaw and Dominique Yahyavi both landed on the second team.
Epstein and Verso, along with Drew Skundrich and Ty Thompson, were also CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 selections.
All-Region Records
A program record five Stanford men's soccer players were named to the 2015 NSCAA NCAA Division I Men's All-Far West Region Teams on Dec. 9. Jordan Morris along with senior co-captains Ty Thompson and Brandon Vincent were first team selections, Andrew Epstein earned a spot on the second team and Eric Verso was selected to the third team.
For the second consecutive season, Jeremy Gunn was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Far West Region Coach of the Year.
Gunn took over the Cardinal in 2012 when the program was coming off a 6-10-2 finish and in four short years has catapulted Stanford among the nation's elite. In four seasons on The Farm, Gunn is 50-20-11 (.685).
Postseason accolades are nothing new for Stanford's head man. He was named the NSCAA National Coach of the Year in 2011 after leading Charlotte to the College Cup final.
King Of The Pac
Stanford finished its regular season 14-2-2 overall and 7-1-2 in league action, setting a school record for Pac-12 wins en route to its second straight conference championship.
The Cardinal's seven-point cushion at the top of the Pac-12 table was the third-largest margin in conference history, only surpassed by nine-point gaps for the champions in 2011 and 2003.
Leading The Pac
The Cardinal cleaned up when it came to the conference's postseason awards announced on Nov. 17. Jordan Morris was named Pac-12 Player of the Year, Brandon Vincent was selected as the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and Jeremy Gunn earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors.
Morris is Stanford's third-ever Pac-12 Player of the Year and first since 2001. Ryan Nelsen (2000) and Roger Levesque (2001) took home the award in the first two years of Pac-12 men's soccer.
Vincent, the 2015 Pac-12 Men's Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, was also the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and is the only person to ever win the award, which was instituted last season.
Gunn also received recognition from his peers as the conference's best last season. His award in 2015 is the fifth time a Stanford coach has been awarded Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Gunn is the third head man in league history to win back-to-back coach of the year honors.
All-Pac-12
Eight of Stanford's 11 starters received recognition on various All-Pac-12 squads. Morris, Vincent and Ty Thompson earned spots on the first team, while Corey Baird, Andrew Epstein, Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Foster Langsdorf and Eric Verso were named to the second team.
Fourteen Cardinal were also named to the league's all-academic teams on Nov. 19, tying a school record previously achieved twice, in 2010 and 2007.
Sweep
The Stanford women's soccer program claimed its outright Pac-12 title on Nov. 1. It's the first time the Cardinal had swept the league's soccer championships and the first time since 2008 (UCLA) that both the conference's men's and women's soccer titles were won by the same institution.
| Pac-12 Championship Men's and Women's Soccer Sweeps | |
| Year | School |
| 2015 | Stanford |
| 2008 | UCLA |
| 2005 | UCLA |
| 2004 | UCLA* |
| 2003 | UCLA |
| 2000 | Washington |
*UCLA's women were co-champions in 2004 along with Arizona.
Winning
Stanford's 18 overall wins tied for second in team history (2000 and 1998). The 2001 side, which went 19-2-1, is the only Cardinal team to win more games.
| Stanford Single-Season Wins | |
| Year | Total |
| 2001 | 19 |
| 2015 | 18 |
| 2000 | 18 |
| 1998 | 18 |
| 2002 | 17 |
| 1978 | 16 |
Home/Road
Stanford went 10-0-2 at home this season and is 19-1-6 in its last 26 matches at Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal allowed just six goals at home in 2015 for a 0.48 goals against average. Away from The Farm, Stanford went 7-2 this year, averaging 1.78 goals per game while holding its opponents to 1.00.
Confines Of Cagan
Stanford went unbeaten at home for the fifth time (home/away designations date to 1985).
| Stanford Unbeaten Seasons At Home | |
| Year | Record |
| 2015 | 10-0-2 |
| 2001 | 10-0-1 |
| 1999 | 7-0-1 |
| 1997 | 6-0-1 |
| 1991 | 8-0-1 |
The Cardinal was one of seven teams in the nation to go without a loss at home in 2015, joining Radford (8-0-1), South Carolina (8-0-2), Coastal Carolina (7-0-2), Cal Poly (7-0-2), Loyola Chicago (5-0-2) and Missouri State (4-0-2).
Streaking
Stanford's 2-1 loss at Washington on November 2 was its first since a season-opening setback at UC Santa Barbara on August 28, a span of 66 days.
| Stanford Unbeaten Streaks | |
| Year(s) | Length |
| 1996-97 | 20 |
| 2015 | 15 |
| 2001 | 11 |
| 1980-81 | 11 |
| 2001 | 10 |
| 1980-81 | 10 |
The defeat snapped Stanford's 15-match unbeaten streak, the second-longest run in program history, and the program's 16-match unbeaten streak in conference play, a run which is tied for 17th in NCAA history.
10+ In Three Straight
In just four years at the helm, Jeremy Gunn has already led Stanford to three straight seasons of 10 or more wins, becoming the third coach in program history to accomplish the feat along with Bobby Clark (1996-2000) and Nelson Lodge (1978-83).
Staying Ahead
Always Willing To Help
Stanford finished 10th nationally in assists per game (2.09) and third in total assists (48) thanks largely to Eric Verso and Corey Baird.
The duo tied for sixth in the country in assists per game (0.57) and second in total assists (13). Verso finished his career with 19 assists, good for ninth all-time at Stanford. Their performances in 2015 tied them for fifth in program single-season history in assists.
Stanford was the only team in the nation that has two different players with at least 10 assists.
Verso and Baird became just the ninth and 10th Stanford players since 1980 to reach double figures in assists, the fourth and fifth since 1985 and the first since 2002.
No Cardinal had reached double digits in assists since Roger Levesque (13) and Todd Dunivant (11) in 2002. They became the first Cardinal teammates with at least 13 assists in a season since 1978 (Ted Rafalovich and Dan McNevin).
| Stanford Players With 10+ Assists Since 1980 | ||
| Player | Year | Assists |
| Ted Rafalovich | 1981 | 17 |
| Ted Rafalovich | 1980 | 16 |
| Corey Baird | 2015 | 13 |
| Eric Verso | 2015 | 13 |
| Roger Levesque | 2002 | 13 |
| Jorge Titinger | 1982 | 12 |
| Todd Dunivant | 2002 | 11 |
| Walter Kingson | 1983 | 11 |
| Matt Moses | 2000 | 10 |
| Giancarlo Ferruzzi | 1984 | 10 |
Getting Defensive
Stanford was among the nation's defensive leaders, ranking sixth in team goals against average (0.62).
| Nation's Top Defenses | |
| Team | GAA |
| Loyola Chicago | 0.39 |
| Denver | 0.40 |
| St. Francis Brooklyn | 0.40 |
| Western Michigan | 0.50 |
| Wake Forest | 0.58 |
| Stanford | 0.62 |
| Washington | 0.63 |
| SIUE | 0.64 |
| Kentucky | 0.66 |
| Coastal Carolina | 0.66 |
Andrew Epstein's 0.631 goals against average was 10th in the NCAA. He finished fifth in Stanford single-season history in that category and also posted eight solo shutouts, tied for eighth in the school record books.
Epstein came up big when it mattered most and didn't allow a goal at the College Cup against a pair of top-10 offenses in Akron (2.33 goals per game) and Clemson (2.17 goals per game). He saved two Akron attempts in a dramatic penalty shootout in an NCAA Semifinal on Dec. 11, including a stop of Nate Shultz in the 10th round which sent the Cardinal on to the title match.
Getting Defensive II
Stanford's 2015 team became the seventh to finish with a goals against average below 0.70 and first since 2002. Early in the year, the Cardinal put together a shutout streak of 469:38, the program's longest since 2007 (575:51).
| Stanford Single-Season GAA | |
| Year | Total |
| 2000 | 0.44 |
| 2001 | 0.56 |
| 1998 | 0.56 |
| 1985 | 0.59 |
| 2002 | 0.61 |
| 2015 | 0.62 |
| 1997 | 0.66 |
Stanford's 11 shutouts this season were its most since 2002 (12).
You Have To Score, Too
Stanford's offensive output also harkend back more than a decade. The Cardinal scored 43 goals in 2015 and averaged 1.87 per game, its best marks in total goals since 2002 (45) and goals per game since 2001 (2.55).
That 2001 campaign was also the last time Stanford has had more three-goal performances. This year, the Cardinal went 8-0 when it scored three times. In 2001, Stanford scored at least three 13 times, winning all 13.
Spreading It Around
Stanford didn't rely solely on Jordan Morris. It boasted three players with at least five goals in Morris (13), Foster Langsdorf (7) and Brandon Vincent (6).
The Cardinal hadn't had that since 2002, when six players scored at least five - Darren Fernandez (9), Johanes Maliza (8), Roger Levesque (7), Matt Janusz (5), James Twellman (5) and Mike Wilson (5).
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.