SEATTLE – The Cardinal scored twice in the first 13 minutes and No. 6 Stanford won on the road at No. 21 Washington on Thursday night, 2-1.
With Stanford alums Jordan Morris and Brian Nana-Sinkam in the building, the Cardinal (11-2-1, 5-0-1 Pac-12) secured its second consecutive victory at Husky Soccer Stadium, something it hadn't done since winning three straight from 2000-02. Now 5-0-1 in conference, Stanford is four points clear of second-place Cal and seven ahead of third-place UCLA in its search for its fourth straight Pac-12 championship.
The entirety of the offensive action happened in just over a dozen minutes. Amir Bashti, whose winner in Seattle last October helped Stanford to its first road win against Washington (9-5-1, 2-3-1 Pac-12) since 2006, got the Cardinal on the board first in the eighth minute. Sam Werner jetted down the left side with an abundance of options in the box. His service fell to Bryce Marion at the far edge of the 18 and Marion's left-footed blast was knocked away by UW keeper Saif Kerawala. The rebound went directly to Bashti in the middle of the six and he tucked it away with his left.
Bashti had the winner last year at UW and gets Stanford on the board first in this one.
— Stanford M Soccer (@StanfordMSoccer) October 20, 2017
?? » @Pac12Network #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/F7rg8aLEHD
Washington answered less than two minutes later when Justin Fiddes sent one in to Kyle Coffee at the back post for a tap-in goal.
It was rapid fire again just over two minutes later when Foster Langsdorf netted the winner. With the Cardinal trying to break quickly, Jared Gilbey attempted to play it ahead to his surging teammates, but his ball hit the hand of Washington's Garret Jackson. Werner stepped over the free kick from 30 yards out and knocked it to the goal line, where Tomas Hilliard-Arce was able to head it back to Langsdorf. Langsdorf settled with one touch and was able to knock in his ninth of the season while his momentum was taking him away from goal.
Stanford was threatening for more late in the match when a ball over the top found Langsdorf. Kerawala came out of the box, clipped the Cardinal striker and was red carded in the 72nd minute. The ensuing free kick didn't amount to anything for Stanford.
In the 88th minute, Blake Bodily nearly forced overtime, but his shot was deflected in the box by Logan Panchot and Nico Corti brought his arm across to knock away the ricochet.
88' | That'll do it. Nico with a massive save late to seal it.
— Stanford M Soccer (@StanfordMSoccer) October 20, 2017
Stanford 2 - UW 1#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/4fmcNeFEyF
The win upped Stanford's road unbeaten streak in Pac-12 matches to nine (8-0-1). Its last loss in conference away from Cagan Stadium was at Washington on Nov. 2, 2015. The Cardinal also moved to 11-6-2 in true road tests against ranked opponents under Jeremy Gunn and improved to 16-2-5 in its last 23 overall matches against teams in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
What does @JmoSmooth13 miss most about Stanford? The brotherhood.
— Stanford M Soccer (@StanfordMSoccer) October 20, 2017
?? » @Pac12Network #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/yXrSQ01mV1
Lansgdorf's goal tied him with Giancarlo Ferruzzi (1982-85) for seventh in program history and also put him in sole possession of seventh place in points, 15 behind Roger Levesque (1999-2002).
The Cardinal wraps up its regular-season road schedule at Oregon State (5-9-0, 2-4-0 Pac-12) on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m.