Cardinal Begins at CaganCardinal Begins at Cagan
Men's Soccer

Cardinal Begins at Cagan

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No. 1 Stanford (0-0)
Penn State (0-0)
Friday • 5 p.m.
Laird Q. Cagan Stadium • Stanford, Calif.
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Complete Release (PDF)
Television •Pac-12 Network
Live Statistics •Available via GoStanford.com

LOOKING AHEAD » The reigning national and Pac-12 champion, No. 1 Stanford begins its title defense at home Friday night with a 5 p.m. match against Penn State. On Sunday, the Cardinal will host Saint Mary's at 5 p.m. Both matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Troy Clardy handling play-by-play duties. Christopher Sullivan will add color for the opener while Cobi Jones will join Clardy in the booth for the game against the Gaels.

HISTORY VS. OPPONENTS » Friday will be the first meeting between Stanford and Penn State. The Cardinal has played one other opponent from the Big Ten under Jeremy Gunn, beating Ohio State in the third round of last season's NCAA Tournament at Cagan Stadium, 3-1. Stanford is 22-5-1 all-time against Saint Mary's, but hasn't played the Gaels since 2010. The Cardinal has won nine straight in the series dating back to 1996 and outscored Saint Mary's 33-2 in those victories.

2015 REWIND » One of the program's stated goals every year is to "play as many games as it can" and the Cardinal did just that in 2015. Stanford's magical season was capped with the program's first national championship in its 100-plus year history when it 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 (now at 109 following women's tennis' 2016 championship). 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.

"Last winter when we came back from break the team sat down and we decided it was time. Our championship is in the past and people aren't going to continue praising us for that. We need to prove that we can do this more than once. We don't want to just be a one-off program. We want to leave our legacy." - Senior captain Brian Nana-Sinkam

CHECKING THE POLLS » In a preseason polling of the nation's coaches, Stanford was picked as the country's No. 1 team, collecting 20 first-place votes and 579 points to top the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Preseason Top 25. The Cardinal went 18-2-3 a season ago, including a 7-1-2 mark in Pac-12 play, to earn its second consecutive conference title. It tied the school record for fewest losses in a season, tied the second-highest win total in program history and set a Stanford record for league wins.

NEW LOOK, SAME STANFORD » A process-oriented bunch, Stanford heads into 2016 with the task of replacing five starters from a year ago, including MAC Hermann Trophy winner Jordan Morris and two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Vincent. Those two, along with Slater Meehan, Ty Thompson and Eric Verso, accounted for 53 percent of the Cardinal's goals (23-of-43), 48 percent of its assists (23-of-48) and 52 percent of its points (69-of-134) last season.

"I see the talent in our young players in practice. No one outside sees it, but the team does. They've put in the work, it's their time to show everyone what they have and excel."- Senior captain Brian Nana-Sinkam

WHAT'S BACK » Eight starters received All-Pac-12 nods last season and four are back in Corey Baird, Andrew Epstein, Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Foster Langsdorf.

BAIRD » As a sophomore in 2015, Baird was named to the College Cup All-Tournament Team and was an All-Pac-12 second team selection. He started all 23 matches, tied for the team lead in assists (13) and was second in points (19) while adding three goals. Baird tied for second in the country in assists, a total which is fifth in Stanford single-season history, and was sixth in assists per game (0.57). His assist total, matched by teammate Eric Verso, was the highest for the Cardinal since 2002 and the most in the Pac-12 since 2010.

EPSTEIN » Epstein, a CoSIDA Third Team Academic All-American and NSCAA Scholar All-West Region pick, allowed 15 goals and posted a 0.631 goals against average in 2015 while playing 2,138 minutes. He finished 10th in the nation in goals against average and is fifth in Cardinal single-season history in that category. His eight solo shutouts during last year's title run are eighth in school history. Epstein was also selected to the College Cup All-Tournament Team after not allowing a goal against a pair of top-10 offenses in Akron (2.33 goals per game) and Clemson (2.17 goals per game). The electrical engineering major is currently 11th in Stanford history in saves (114) and is a two-time All-Pac-12 second teamer.

HILLIARD-ARCE » Hilliard-Arce started all 23 games at center back for the Cardinal a season ago and scored three goals. Stanford's defense surrendered just 15 scores, its lowest total since 2001 (13), and finished sixth nationally in goals against average (0.62), the sixth-best mark in program history.

LANGSDORF » Stanford's leading returning goal scorer, Langsdorf put in seven last season and tied for third on the team in points (17). Four of his seven goals were game winners, which ranked second in the Pac-12, including a header in the 97th minute at No. 1 Wake Forest to send Stanford to its first College Cup since 2002.

PRESEASON RECOGNITION » Baird, Epstein and Hilliard-Arce were named to the 2016 Preseason Men's Soccer All-Pac-12 Team and Stanford was picked to finish second in the conference following a vote of the league's coaches. Hilliard-Arce was also on TopDrawerSoccer 2016 Men's Division I Preseason Best XI first team announced Tuesday. Hilliard-Arce (No. 6), Epstein (No. 68) and Baird (No. 76) were also picked as part of TopDrawerSoccer's preseason list of the top 100 men's college players.

CONFINES OF CAGAN » Stanford was unbeaten at Cagan Stadium in 2015 (10-0-2) and is 19-1-6 in its last 26 matches on The Farm. The program's goals-against average at home since 2014 is a miniscule 0.54. The Cardinal was one of seven teams in the nation to go without a loss at home last season, 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).


IT'S NOT HOW YOU START » Stanford dropped its first match of 2015 at UC Santa Barbara before going on a 15-match unbeaten streak that spanned 66 days and eventually ended with a 2-1 loss at Washington on November 2. The Cardinal's unbeaten run was the second-longest in program history, trailing only a 20-match stretch over the 1996 and 1997 seasons. As far as openers are concerned, in the past dozen years Stanford has been victorious in its first game just once, winning at San Francisco on August 24, 2012 (1-0).

GREAT UNDER GUNN » One of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, Jeremy Gunn's teams are 50-20-11 (.685) in his four seasons on The Farm, including 31-5-6 (.810) over the past two.  He is one of only three coaches in program history to lead Stanford to three straight seasons of 10 or more wins along with Bobby Clark (1996-2000) and Nelson Lodge (1978-83). In guiding the Cardinal to consecutive conference championships, Gunn was awarded Pac-12 Coach of the Year and NSCAA Far West Region Coach of the Year honors in both 2014 and 2015. He owns a career record of 237-81-42 (.717) in 17 seasons, a mark which makes him the third winningest active coach at the Division I level (by percentage).

COACHING CHANGES » Gunn welcomes a pair of new coaches to the staff this season in Oige Kennedy and Charles Rodriguez.

KENNEDY » Kennedy was a two-time NCAA Division II national champion head coach at Fort Lewis College and racked up a 102-37-9 overall record in seven seasons leading the Skyhawks. He first arrived at Fort Lewis in 2006 when he was hired as an assistant on Gunn's staff in Durango, Colorado. The Skyhawks went 21-2-1 that season and were national runners-up. Gunn left after the season to take over at Charlotte while Kennedy remained to work under Tim Hankinson in 2007-08, winning 33 more games and advancing to the NCAA Division II postseason both years. On those 2006 and 2007 FLC teams was current Stanford assistant coach Nick Kirchhof. Kennedy took the reins of Fort Lewis' program in 2009 and continued the powerhouse's push forward. Hired as interim head coach just weeks before his team was to report for preseason training, he became the first coach in NCAA history to guide a men's soccer team to a national championship in his first year of collegiate coaching. In January 2012, he became the second Fort Lewis head man to be named NSCAA Division II Coach of the Year. Gunn earned the accolade in 2005 after guiding the Skyhawks to their first national crown.

RODRIGUEZ » Rodriguez played for Jeremy Gunn at Charlotte and captained the squad that advanced to the 2011 College Cup Championship match. As a senior, he was named a Soccer America First Team All American, was a NSCAA First Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region selection and became the first defender in Charlotte history to earn NSCAA First Team All-America honors. He was also named to the 2011 NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team while leading the 49ers to the national final for the first time in school history. Rodriguez spent the past three seasons on staff at Xavier.

DESTINATION STANFORD » In late July, Liverpool used Cagan Stadium for training during its 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 three years Stanford has also hosted Manchester United, Italian giant Juventus and English side Norwich City.

USMNT » In the past two years, a pair of Gunn's players have capped for the USMNT in Jordan Morris and Brandon Vincent. In November 2014, Morris became the first active collegian since 1995 to receive a cap for the U.S. Men's National Team 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. 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 2016 training camp in Carson, Calif. by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. The 2015 College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player earned his first MNT cap on Feb. 5 when he came on for the second half of a 1-0 win against Canada at StubHub Center.

MORE U.S. SOCCER TIES » Amir Bashti is a veteran of the U.S. system as well and most recently played with the U-19s at the 33rd International U-20 Men's COTIF Tournament in Valencia Spain. He was also with the U-20s at the Dallas Cup in late March and was part of a U-20 January training camp in Miami, Florida, at which the U.S. won two matches against local club teams. Last September, Bashti missed a pair of matches when he traveled with the U-20s to Serbia for the Stevan Vilotic-Cele Tournament. Last August, Corey Baird and Tomas Hilliard-Arce joined Brandon Vincent for the first College Identification training camp at the U.S. National Training Center. The camp was comprised of 28 collegians called by U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Andi Herzog.