Stanford Starts at No. 1Stanford Starts at No. 1
Carl Solder
Men's Soccer

Stanford Starts at No. 1

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford will start the 2016 season where it finished a year ago. The Cardinal collected 579 points to top the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Preseason Top 25, the organization announced Tuesday.
 
Stanford, last season's national champion, took 20 of 24 first-place votes. Akron (567 points) and Clemson (548 points) are second and third and split the remaining first-place votes. Maryland (494 points) and Wake Forest (484 points) round out the top five.
 
The Cardinal advanced past three of the country's preseason top five in its run to the 2015 NCAA title. A Foster Langsdorf winner in the 97th minute off a free kick from Corey Baird pushed Stanford to a 2-1 win at top-seeded Wake Forest in the quarterfinals. After a scoreless semifinal draw, Andrew Epstein saved the 10th Akron penalty kick to advance the Cardinal to the College Cup final in Kansas City, Kan. and in that championship, Stanford routed Clemson 4-0 to earn its first national crown in the more than 100 years of the program.

The Cardinal hosts an exhibition against Sacramento State on Saturday, August 13 (7 p.m.) before beginning its regular season at Cagan Stadium against Penn State on Friday, August 26 (5 p.m.).
 
Season tickets, mini plans and single-game seats are available by visiting gostanford.com/tickets or calling 800-STANFORD.

2016 NSCAA Preseason Top 25

RankSchoolPoints
1Stanford579 (20)
2Akron567 (2)
3Clemson548 (2)
4Maryland494
5Wake Forest484
6Syracuse465
7Creighton449
8North Carolina443
9Notre Dame399
10Georgetown380
11Boston College317
12SMU298
13UC Santa Barbara279
14Seattle University273
15Indiana267
16UCLA246
17Virginia214
18Ohio State206
19South Florida197
20Denver174
21Coastal Carolina156
22Charlotte100
23Florida International58
24South Carolina52
25Rutgers34