STANFORD, Calif. – A flurry of second-half goals lifted No. 5 Stanford to a 3-0 win over No. 11 Saint Mary's on Tuesday night at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
"It was a fantastic soccer game between two wonderful teams and exactly what any program would want going into the season," said the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "Obviously we were happy with the result but it was a very tough game for both sides trying to break down two outstanding defenses. It's great to get the shutout and limit their chances, and that hard work paid off when we scored three brilliant goals late on."
Ousseni Bouda and Kei Tomozawa finished with one goal and one assist apiece, Jack O'Brien netted the opening tally and Stanford's defense combined for a shutout in the first exhibition action of the season for the Cardinal.
The first half ended in a goalless tie as both teams threatened to take the lead. Andrew Thomas made a fine save to deny the Gaels on the counter attack in the 29th minute before Stanford's best scoring chance of the half 10 minutes later.
In the 39th minute, Gabe Segal picked up the ball in space on the right side of Saint Mary's' penalty area, forcing a save by Remi Prieur at the far post, and Ryan Ludwick's sliding challenge inside his own box in the 43rd minute ensured Stanford entered the break tied, 0-0.
Defensively, Stanford was up to the task to start the second half, successfully defending a series of set pieces by the Gaels. The Cardinal's hard work in its own end paid off in the 66th minute when Jack O'Brien gave Stanford a 1-0 lead. Ousseni Bouda forced an excellent save from goalkeeper Nicholas Lapinid and O'Brien was in a perfect position to bury the rebound for the first goal of the evening.
Less than 10 minutes later, Bouda doubled the lead with a strike of his own. After combining with Kei Tomozawa in the left side of the Gaels' area, Bouda danced past his marker near the 18-yard line and planted one inside the goalpost to make it 2-0.
Saint Mary's had a scoring chance with a 25-yard free kick in the 83rd minute, but goalkeeper Matt Frank made the save and did not allow a rebound. Three minutes later, Tomozawa got in on the scoring with a low blast past Lapanid at the far post, pushing Stanford's lead to 3-0 before the full-time whistle sounded.
"For a long period of that game, it was such a tough contest that could have gone either way," said Gunn. "We have a wonderful balance of veterans and exciting newcomers, which is a terrific problem to have. We can't complain about the result but there is certainly much to improve on before we start the season. We will continue to feel each other out and figure out our strengths – we don't expect to be playing our best soccer at this time of year, but we do demand a compete level and a desire to want the ball, and that was all there tonight."
The exhibition was a rematch of last season's Round-of-16 contest in the NCAA Tournament, which Stanford won in a penalty shootout after 110 minutes of scoreless soccer. The Cardinal wraps up its preseason action on Friday at 7 p.m. when it plays host to Pacific at Cagan Stadium. Stanford opens its regular season with a trip to face Penn State on Aug. 30 and No. 3 Akron on Sept. 2 on ESPN+.
