SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Bryce Marion scored his first career goal in the second half and No. 12 Stanford earned a point with a 1-1 draw at San Diego State on Thursday night.
The Cardinal (8-2-4, 5-0-1 Pac-12) is unbeaten through its first six conference games and atop the Pac-12 table with four to play. Stanford 16 points are seven clear of two teams side for second place in Washington (9-4-0, 3-2-0 Pac-12) and UCLA. The Cardinal is at the No. 24 Bruins (7-5-1, 3-3-0 Pac-12) Sunday at 5 p.m. on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
Fifteen minutes into the second half a long ball was sent to the top left corner of the 18 where Adrian Alabi chested it down to fellow forward Corey Baird, who took a touch and used his left to feed the ball through the box. San Diego State (7-3-4, 2-2-2 Pac-12) keeper Adam Allmaras expected the shot to come from the center of the field, but a Stanford attacker ran off the ball and Marion was waiting at the other end. He finished back across the goal to the left post to level the score in the 61st minute.
Marion, who had only appeared in nine games his first two seasons at Stanford, has started all 14 this year and also has three assists to go along with his one goal. The assist was the second of Alabi's career, while Baird notched his fourth in the last three games.
Stanford found itself in a hole despite handling the run of play in the first half. The Cardinal got off five shots in the game's first 15 minutes, but it was SDSU's first attempt that pushed the Aztecs in front. Matt Callahan launched a long throw in front of goal in the 19th minute, which Kyle Adams headed down to Casey Macias. Macias poked it to the left post past Andrew Epstein for his first of the season.
Stanford finished up in shots, 15-10, and corners, 8-3. The Aztecs didn't earn their first corner until there were six minutes remaining in regulation.