SAN JOSE, Calif. – Stanford was clinical to begin 2017. Foster Langsdorf scored twice, Drew Skundrich and Adam Mosharrafa added goals of their own and the No. 1 Cardinal routed San Jose State 4-0 on Friday night.
"It's great to get the first result straightaway," head coach Jeremy Gunn said. "There was a little bit of rustiness in the first five minutes. No matter how well you play in the scrimmages there's a different feel. But once we got through that we settled, scored a fantastic first goal and after that it was just a really good performance."
The Cardinal's first tally of the season came courtesy of senior co-captain Drew Skundrich in the 12th minute. Corey Baird controlled near the end line and cut it back to the top corner of the box and Jared Gilbey. Gilbey lofted a ball in the direction of the back post that was punched out of the air and into the back of the net by a bullet header from Skundrich.
The rout was on. Stanford won its first season opener since 2012 and had its sixth four-goal performance under Gunn. The Cardinal's offensive output was its best in its first game of the year since a 5-0 thumping of Sacramento State in 2002.
"There's little areas we can improve on, which is to be expected, but I think it showed where we are as a group," Gunn added of the performance. "We're in a good spot and now we can really attack getting better and better from that position."
Stanford added more in the 27th when Sam Werner blitzed by his defender on the far sideline and crossed to a waiting Foster Langsdorf in the box. Langsdorf punched home his first of the season while falling away and would add another off a corner in the second half for his fourth career brace.
Derek Waldeck laid one out on a free kick for Adam Mosharrafa, who used his right boot to bury the Cardinal's third goal in the 32nd minute.
"Those were some great deliveries," Gunn said. "Derek delivered a perfect ball that led to Adam's fantastic goal and Sam thrusted and took his man on, which is what we want him to do. We want him to get after fullbacks, he did and Foster had a tremendous, off-balance finish and managed to find it."
Nico Corti collected the clean sheet and Stanford extended its shutout streak to 638:29. The Cardinal hasn't allowed a goal in six consecutive matches, its longest stretch since 2000.
"Rather than looking at the scoreboard we want to try and play our best soccer at all times," Gunn added. "Tactics might change a little bit based on the score, but the work rate should always be there and the desire to play well should always be there. What was great for us is that we have options so I think everybody knows if you're not putting the work in somebody else will want to take your spot. That's a great position to be in."
Stanford's regular-season home opener against No. 14 Creighton on Friday, Sept. 1 will be Cardinal Kids Day and fans can receive up to two free youth tickets with the purchase of a paid adult ticket. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will also receive the t-shirt celebrating the program's back-to-back national championships.
To secure the promotion, fans can visit this link. A full promotional schedule for 2017 can be found by visiting gostanford.com/msocpromotions.