CORVALLIS, Ore. – No. 6 Stanford scored three times in the first half and closed out its regular-season road schedule with a 3-0 win at Oregon State on Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinal (12-2-1, 6-0-1 Pac-12) finished its Pac-12 slate with a perfect 5-0 mark away from home for the first time in program history and is now 9-0-1 in its last 10 conference matches away from The Farm. Stanford (19 points) made it a three-team race for the league championship with the victory, eliminating Washington from the title chase. Cal (12 points) and UCLA (nine points) are the only teams remaining with a chance to deny the Cardinal its Pac-12 four-peat.
"We're very pleased and excited with another great road trip," Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said. "We had to really adjust to the Pacific Northwest playing conditions and our players did that fantastically. Today we managed to settle the ball down and play some great soccer despite it being a waterlogged field after torrential rains."
Foster Langsdorf secured his second consecutive winner in the 18th minute, taking a backheel touch from Amir Bashti and burying his 33rd career goal to move into a tie for sixth in program history. In in the 25th minute Tanner Beason slotted his third penalty of the season past OSU's Gage Rogers and Drew Skundrich closed out Stanford's scoring in the 42nd minute when the Cardinal knocked the ball down at the top of the box and Derek Waldeck and Charlie Wehan set up the senior co-captain for his fifth of the season.
Stanford has won 11 in a row over Oregon State (5-10-0, 2-5-0).
"The strikers they did their job," Gunn added. "They caused problems and created chances, goals and goal-scoring opportunities. Yet again the back four were rock solid and Tomas (Hilliard-Arce) and Adam (Mosharrafa) were stellar as central defenders. Overall it was a really well-balanced performance today."
The shutout was the ninth of the season for the Cardinal and the eighth of the solo variety for redshirt senior keeper Nico Corti, a total already tied for 10th in program history. Stanford has scored 16 times in Pac-12 action and conceded just a pair of goals, both to Washington.
Overall, the Cardinal is averaging 2.07 goals per outing and giving up just 0.53 and those numbers improve to 2.29 and 0.29 in conference. Always stout defensively, its 31 goals thus far are its most through 15 matches in 15 years. Stanford has scored three or more goals seven times already, something it did seven times all of last year and eight times in the championship season of 2015.
Stanford will have a bye next weekend and the close with three straight on The Farm, beginning with UCLA on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 5:30 p.m.
"Now we get to come home, regroup, get excited for the conference finish and the last three games at Cagan," Gunn concluded.
