STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 Stanford had chance after chance in its season opener on Friday night, but ultimately wasn't able to put one away and played San Jose State to a scoreless draw at Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal (0-0-1) generated 24 shots and had a 13-1 edge in that department in the first half alone, but the constant pressure it put on the Spartans (0-0-1) was for naught. Alex Clewis made a career-high 11 saves and SJSU was able to end a five-match losing streak to Stanford.
"We have to be really pleased with how positively we attacked the game our first time out," Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said. "All we were lacking was just that one goal to get the result. We can critique all the different parts of the game and we always do that whether we win, lose or tie, but I think tonight the positives far outweigh the negatives and we had a very good performance."
Stanford's chances came fast and furious from the opening whistle and of the team's first five shots, four were on frame. The best of the bunch came from Andrew Aprahamian in the 12th minute, who was free on a corner at the top of the six and bounced his header high off the ground only to have it tipped away by Clewis.
In the 26th minute Arda Bulut dribbled down the left, drew three defenders and crossed it to Amir Bashti in the box. Bashti had Clewis 1v1, but the senior's shot nailed the crossbar.
San Jose State's keeper was largely great, but also had some fortunate bounces. At the end of the first half Bashti returned the favor and left one off for Bulut, whose right-footed blast was stopped by Clewis' forehead as he dove to the ground.
"You have to go and grasp it yourself," Gunn said of the scoring opportunities. "We can look at chances that their keeper saved and chances where it hit the woodwork, but there a lot of other situations where somebody getting across a man could potentially score an extra goal. We have to look and we have to figure out how we can make sure we are absolutely clinical in front of goal and desperate to score."
Less than a minute into overtime, Charlie Wehan had a chance in the box in front of Clewis and launched his shot right into the keeper's belly. Two minutes later Bulut stopped on the ball, turned and fired from a tight angle, but Clewis leapt into the air to snag the attempt.
A Logan Panchot blocked shot with under 10 seconds remaining in the second overtime led to a scramble in the box. Bashti fed Wehan at the far side and his attempt with three seconds left crossed the line, but the sophomore was offside by half a yard.
Coming off three consecutive national championships, this year's Cardinal has a much different look than teams past. Stanford debuted seven new starters, including four freshmen, and of its 14 players that saw action, eight are underclassmen.
"With so many new players I thought our performance was fantastic," Gunn added. "There were so many great debuts to celebrate today. Those are some of the things that are really positive and we'll be looking to build from that no question."
The Cardinal's next match is Friday, August 31 at Maryland (3 p.m. PT) and will be carried nationally on FS1.
The result Friday night extended Stanford's unbeaten streak to 16 matches, the second-longest stretch in program history. Andrew Thomas collected the clean sheet is his collegiate debut and upped the Cardinal's active shutout streak to 799:15 and its shutout streak in open play to 1,033:02.
