SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Stanford scored twice in the second half and the No. 6 Cardinal moved into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 with a 2-0 victory at San Diego State on Thursday night.
The win was Stanford's 10th of the season and upped its conference record to 6-1-1. The Cardinal (10-2-4, 6-1-1) is tied atop the league table with Oregon State (10-4-3, 6-1-1) and has a game in hand on the Beavers. Stanford could clinch at least a share of its fifth consecutive Pac-12 title with a win in its next match at UCLA.
Each game in the competitive Pac-12 takes on a life of its own and Thursday was no exception. Stanford beat the Aztecs(6-9-1, 1-7-0) 3-0 in the conference opener for both schools on Sept. 27 and after 45 minutes tonight's affair was up in the air.
"It was a cracking game between two quality teams," Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn said. "We settled into it very well and in the first 20 it looked like we were going to break through. Amir Bashti in the post on a great move in the 15th and it seemed like we were in control. But later on San Diego State started to get a little more joy and by halftime it was very much there for the taking."
That is until the 48th minute when Bashti slipped it out wide to Will Richmond, who took a touch and whipped in a great cross that thrashed across the face of goal. Charlie Wehan was sitting calmly at the back post and there for the finish, his second score of 2018.
In the 71st minute Zach Ryan was flattened in the box and Stanford was awarded a penalty. Tanner Beason stepped up and buried his sixth goal of the season from the spot to put the Cardinal in a commanding position.
"Drawing first blood at the beginning of the second half was huge," Gunn said.
Defensively, Stanford collected its first clean sheet in conference in over a month, and reacted well as SDSU threw everything it could forward in the waning minutes of regulation. The Cardinal, which entered the night 12th in the nation in goals against average, lowered that number to 0.58 with the shutout.
"It was a fantastic defensive performance," Gunn added. "I thought Tanner Beason was immense at the back and as the game went on and more bodies were coming forward he was winning headers and doing everything you ask for of your captain at the back."
The Cardinal is at UCLA (10-6-0, 5-3-0) on Sunday evening at 4 p.m. in a match televised on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12 Los Angeles.
