UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Five different Cardinal scored goals and No. 5 Stanford opened its season with a 5-0 rout at Penn State on Friday night.
Will Richmond (11'), Tanner Beason (13'), Charlie Wehan (63'), Ousseni Bouda (68') and Gabe Segal (84') spearheaded the balanced attack for Stanford, which had its highest scoring output in a season opener since another 5-0 thumping of Sacramento State in 2002.
"Absolutely not," Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn said when asked if he could expect anything more from his team in its first match of the season. "It was phenomenal performance, a great first outing and one that gets us all excited. The game required great balance in so many ways. We had to play big at times, we played beautiful at times and defended resolutely at times."
Three of Stanford's five goals came from underclassmen, starting with sophomore Will Richmond in the 11th minute. Jared Gilbey fed it ahead to Charlie Wehan, who drove hard to the corner and whipped in a pinpoint cross to the back post, where the 5-foot-10 Richmond was in the perfect spot to head in his second career score.
There was a flurry of shots from inside the box two minutes later that culminated with Zach Ryan's strike on goal. Ryan's attempt hit a Penn State defender's arm and the referee pointed to the spot. Tanner Beason stepped up and buried the penalty to double Stanford's lead.
"It was a blend of so many things," Gunn said of what he liked most on Friday. "Penn State is a good team, is very well coached and certainly had a size advantage against us. We had to deal with some of the physicality of the game, dealt well defensively and in the early stages when it's difficult to get going we kept at it. We started to play some electrifying soccer that was exciting to watch and breathtaking at times."
Stanford didn't let up in the second half. It took a little while longer, but in the 63rd minute a Derek Waldeck corner was lofted perfect into the box, headed down by Keegan Hughes and buried with a diving header from Charlie Wehan. Five minutes later Ousseni Bouda headed in his first collegiate goal off another Waldeck service, this time a free kick, and in the 84th minute another freshman opened his account when Gabe Segal pounced on a loose ball in the box to score Stanford's fifth.
"Those were some clinical deliveries and clinical finishes," Gunn said of the goals off set pieces. "We have a squad with a lot of internal competition for places and have assembled a tremendous group of players. Through the rigors of a college season you always want to keep being able to push forward and [with so many different weapons] hopefully we'll have that luxury this year."
The road trip doesn't get any easier for the Cardinal, which plays at No. 3 Akron on Monday at 4 p.m. PT in a match televised on ESPN+.
