Starting Down SouthStarting Down South
Jim Shorin/Stanford Athletics
Men's Soccer

Starting Down South

No. 11 Stanford (6-2-0)
at San Diego State (4-4-0) | Thurs. • 7 p.m. PT
at UCLA (3-3-0) | Sun. • 5 p.m. PT
Television • Mountain West Network (Thurs.) | Pac-12 Networks (Sun.)
Live Statistics • GoAztecs.com (Thurs.) | UCLABruins.com (Sun.)
Complete Release (PDF)
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LOOKING AHEAD » No. 11 Stanford (6-2) begins its conference slate on Thursday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. when it plays at the SDSU Sports Deck against the Aztecs (4-4) in a match carried online via the Mountain West Network. On Sunday, Oct. 1 the Cardinal will head up the road to face UCLA (3-3) at 5 p.m. Mark Rogondino and Tammy Blackburn will call the action against the Bruins on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
 
STANFORD-SAN DIEGO STATE SERIES » Stanford is 15-11-8 all-time against the Aztecs in a series dating back to 1976, 8-0-3 in the past 11 and unbeaten under Jeremy Gunn. The Cardinal hasn't dropped a result to SDSU since a 1-0 loss in San Diego on Sept. 30, 2011.
 
STANFORD-UCLA SERIES » Stanford is 9-39-9 in 57 all-time meetings with the Bruins dating back to 1973.  Last season, the Cardinal swept its two meetings with UCLA for the first time. Its 3-0 shutout at home on Oct. 16, 2016 was its largest win over UCLA and a week later it won on the road, 3-2, behind goals from Drew Skundrich, Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Foster Langsdorf. That victory was Stanford's second against UCLA in Los Angeles. The Cardinal's first triumph in Westwood came on Oct. 16, 2015, 2-1, on a Jordan Morris winner in the 65th minute. After going 6-39-6 against UCLA from 1973-2013, Stanford is 3-0-3 in its last six meetings with the Bruins.2016 REWIND » Stanford became the sixth program to win back-to-back national championships and the first to do it in a dozen years when it beat Wake Forest in penalties of the College Cup final following a scoreless 110 minutes. The Demon Deacons had match point in the fifth round of penalty kicks, but Andrew Epstein's fifth-round save prolonged the shootout. Stanford's redshirt junior keeper lunged to his left to stop Hayden Partain's championship-winning attempt and swing momentum back to the Cardinal. Sam Werner next put Stanford ahead, 5-4, with a shot up the middle, and Epstein followed with the save of his life, diving to his right to block the try of Wake's Brad Dunwell and secure back-to-back NCAA crowns for the Cardinal.
 
CARDINAL QUICK HITTERS »

  • Stanford is one of six programs to win back-to-back national championships and was the first to do it in a dozen years. The Cardinal joined Indiana, Virginia, San Francisco, Saint Louis and Michigan State as the only collegiate soccer programs to win two consecutive championships.
  • This season the Cardinal will attempt to become just the second program to win three straight NCAA titles (Virginia; 1991-94).
  • Stanford on the 2016 title without allowing a goal throughout the entire tournament, becoming just the third program to ever do that (Wisconsin – 1995, San Francisco 1976).
  • The Cardinal had a shutout streak of 820:27 ended with Garrett McLaughlin's goal at 1:58 for SMU on Sept. 7. Stanford would go on to score three unanswered to beat the Mustangs 3-1.
  • McLaughlin's goal ended Stanford's streak of eight consecutive matches without conceding. That scoreless match number is tied for the 11th-longest in NCAA history.
  • The Cardinal still owns an active postseason shutout streak of seven consecutive matches, an NCAA record, and 732:17 of match time.
  • Stanford is the only school to return multiple 2016 All-Americans in 2017 (Hilliard-Arce/Langsdorf).
  • The Cardinal returns nine of its 11 starters from a year ago, all of its goals scored and 91.7% of its assists (33-of-36).

 
TREE-PEAT » Stanford went 8-1-1 in league action a year ago, setting a school record for Pac-12 wins, and won its third consecutive conference championship (2016, 2015, 2014, 2001). The Cardinal is the second Pac-12 school to win three in a row. UCLA won four consecutive conference crowns from 2002-05. Stanford's Pac-12 record during its three-year run of dominance is 21-3-6.
 
BEEN AWHILE » Stanford's 2016 Pac-12 title was its 14th conference championship, but completed the first three-peat since it won four straight University and Club Soccer League (UCSL) championships from 1919-22. The Cardinal also won UCSL titles in 1915 and 1916, the California Intercollegiate Conference in 1931, the Northern California Intercollegiate Soccer Conference in 1962 and 1963 and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in 1997.
 
THREE SEASONS OF SUCCESS » The nation's most successful collegiate soccer program over the past three seasons, Stanford is 52-10-11 and leads the nation in winning percentage since 2014 (.788). North Carolina is second (.785; 52-11-9), followed by Wake Forest (.767; 54-14-7), Denver (.754; 50-14-7) and Maryland (.750; 49-12-13).
 
GREAT UNDER GUNN » One of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, head coach Jeremy Gunn's teams are 71-25-16 (.705) in his five-plus seasons on The Farm. He owns a career record of 258-86-47 (.720) in 18-plus seasons, a mark which makes him the fourth winningest active coach at the Division I level by percentage. Carlos Somoano of North Carolina is first (.766; 98-23-20), followed by Ray Reid of Connecticut (.750; 428-118-73) and Schellas Hyndman at Grand Canyon (.747; 483-146-52). With Stanford's 2016 NCAA title Gunn became the seventh coach in Division I history to win back-to-back national championships along with Jerry Yeagley (Indiana), Bruce Arena (Virginia), Steve Negoesco (San Francisco), Harry Keough (Saint Louis), Gene Kenney (Michigan State) and Bob Guelker (Saint Louis).
 
LANGSDORF LEADS » Last year's Co-Pac-12 Player of the Year Foster Langsdorf is menacing defenses again in 2017 and the senior is 10th nationally in total goals (6) and 17th in goals per game (0.75). With 29 career scores, Langsdorf is tied with Roger Levesque (1999-2002) and Jim Talluto (1989-92) for ninth in program history. No Stanford player has reach the 30-goal mark since Giancarlo Ferruzzi scored 32 in the early-to-mid 1980's. Langsdorf's 65 points are tied with Ryan Collins (1991-94) and Jim Talluto (1989-92) for 10th in school history. He's 12th among active players in both career goals and points. Langsdorf's 15 goals for the Cardinal last year are tied for eighth in program history and were the most for a Stanford player since Willie Guicci had 22 in 1981. Since men's soccer became a Pac-12 sport in 2000, no one has earned multiple Pac-12 Player of the Year awards. Langsdorf is currently tied for the league lead in goals and is second in points.

????You used to call me on my cell phone. ???? #GoStanford

A post shared by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Sep 1, 2017 at 10:43pm PDT

BAIRD'S BACK » Paired with Langsdorf up top is Corey Baird, who is back in the lineup after missing four games earlier this season due to injury. Baird's 26 career assists are seventh in the Cardinal record books and two shy of a three-way tie for fourth along with Todd Dunivant (1999-2002), Giancarlo Ferruzzi (1982-85) and Jorge Titinger (1980-83). His assist total is also second among all active players, one behind Rider's Jose Aguinaga.
 
FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME » For the first time since 2013, someone other than Andrew Epstein is between the pipes for the Cardinal. Redshirt senior Nico Corti has taken over for Stanford's All-American keeper and recorded four shutouts in eight games. He's 33rd nationally in goals against average (0.75) and his shutout total is 20th nationally. Entering the year, Corti hadn't allowed a goal in 76 career minutes. He was a part of seven shutouts as a substitute from 2014-16.
 
NOT JUST SOCCER » Corti, one of 19 Stanford student-athletes majoring in political science, spent last summer interning with the Crime Strategies Unit at the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office where he analyzed the impact of various statewide public policies, including Prop 47, on crime and incarceration rates in Santa Clara County.
 
NCAA RANKS » Stanford is eighth nationally in assists per game (2.38), 19th in points per game (6.13), 30th in scoring offense (1.88), seventh in shots per game (16.88), 23rd in shutout percentage (0.50) and 32nd in goals against average (0.75).
 
ROAD WARRIORS » Stanford was unbeaten in road Pac-12 matches last season for the first time (4-0-1). That five-match road unbeaten streak in conference is the second-longest in program history. The Cardinal went seven straight Pac-12 games away from home without a loss across the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
 
SENIOR CLASS CANDIDATES » Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Foster Langsdorf and Drew Skundrich were each named to a list of 30 NCAA men's soccer student-athletes selected as candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes seniors that have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Among many notable achievements for the trio, Skundrich volunteers at the Veterans Hospital in Palo Alto in its rehab center shadowing physical therapists and helping U.S. military veterans throughout their rehab process following traumatic brain injuries or amputations. The human biology major also volunteers in the physical therapy clinic at Stanford, observing and helping Cardinal student-athletes recover from their injuries. Stanford has done well recently as far as the Senior CLASS Award is concerned. Brandon Vincent and Brian Nana-Sinkam have earned Senior CLASS Award Second Team All-America status the past two years.

TWO IN A ROW IS RARE » Stanford is coming off a 2-0 loss at Saint Louis. The Cardinal hasn't been beaten in two consecutive matches in the same season since 2012, Jeremy Gunn's first year as head coach.
 
SCORE TWICE AND WIN » Stanford has scored two or more goals in 57 of Jeremy Gunn's 112 matches as Stanford's head coach and is 51-0-6 in those games. The Cardinal hasn't lost when scoring at least two goals since Nov. 11, 2010, when it fell 3-2 at Cal.
 
CHECKING IN ON THE POLLS » Stanford is No. 11 in the United Soccer Coaches poll this week and the highest Pac-12 team ranked. The Cardinal is No. 13 in Top Drawer Soccer's top 25, No. 6 according to Soccer America and No. 10 in College Soccer News' top 30. Stanford has been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches poll every week since Oct. 11, 2016.
 
WATCH LISTS » All-Americans Tomas Hilliard-Arce and Foster Langsdorf are two of 31 players on the 2017 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. The Cardinal is the only school in the country with multiple players recognized and also the only one returning multiple All-Americans this year. Stanford also placed a league-best four on the All-Pac-12 preseason team in seniors Corey Baird, Hilliard-Arce, Langsdorf and Drew Skundrich. Hilliard-Arce was also voted to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Best XI first team, Langsdorf the second team, Skundrich the third team and Logan Panchot the freshman team. Stanford's four preseason honorees are tied with Virginia for the national lead.
 
WHAT'S BACK, WHAT'S NOT » Unlike last season, when Stanford was forced to replace nearly have of its lineup, nine of 11 starters return in 2017, including two All-Americans, three all-region performers and five All-Pac-12 players. Goalkeeper Andrew Epstein, who finished his superb career with a 46-8-11 record and a NCAA-record 0.34 postseason goals against average, graduated from Stanford with his degree in electrical engineering and is working with the Peace Corps in Benin. Brian Nana-Sinkam became the Cardinal's eighth first-round selection when he was chosen with the 22nd overall pick by the Seattle Sounders in January's MLS SuperDraft and is currently playing with Sounders FC2.

TOP CLASS » Along with its 13 retuning letterwinners, the Cardinal welcomed the nation's consensus No. 1 recruiting class as freshmen this fall, including four of the nation's top 20 players according to Top Drawer Soccer. Logan Panchot, Charlie Wehan, Arda Bulut, Jack O'Brien and Carson Vom Steeg have all debuted this season. Panchot has started every game at right back while Adam Mosharrafa, who played in that spot last season, has slid over to occupy Brian Nana-Sinkam's old position at center back alongside Tomas Hilliard-Arce.

.@charliewehan's got a good head on his shoulders. #GoStanford

A post shared by Stanford Men's Soccer (@stanfordmenssoccer) on Sep 15, 2017 at 1:37am PDT