AKRON, Ohio – Zach Ryan's header with 70 seconds left found the back of the net and No. 5 Stanford snagged a 2-1 road win at No. 3 Akron on Monday night.
The Cardinal will return to The Farm 2-0 and have three straight matches at Cagan Stadium beginning next Monday at 7 p.m. against No. 25 UC Irvine. Tickets are available by visiting gostanford.com/msoctickets or calling 800-STANFORD.
The result was Stanford's third top-five road victory under Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. The Cardinal went on to win its first and third national championships with quarterfinal road triumphs at No. 1 Wake Forest in both 2015 and 2017.
Stanford's 11th corner of the evening was what precipitated Ryan's winner. Derek Waldeck sent in an in-swinger that was batted around and ultimately knocked out of the box by the Zips to Jared Gilbey at the top of the 18. Gilbey one-timed it back into the penalty area and Ryan, who whipped his header off the back post and in for his 11th career goal and fifth game winner.
"As the half wore on we were finding more and more of the brew," Gunn said. "Coaches can try to come up with great ideas and great set plays, but it all boils down to good deliveries and good finishes and that's exactly what that was."
The Cardinal was pressing for goal for a major part of the latter stages of the second half, but it was a defensive play that was the highlight.
Colin Biros played Akron's David Egbo through in the 71st minute and Egbo dribbled wide of an advancing Andrew Thomas to create a chance on an empty goal. His shot was easily going to put the Zips up a goal until freshman Keegan Hughes scampered back into the frame, slid and used every inch of his 6-foot-2 frame to knock Egbo's attempt wide.
"That was a great attack by Akron," Gunn added. "They managed to carve through us and Andrew [Thomas] had pushed him wide, but obviously Egbo got the shot off and it was goal bound. It was a tremendous stop by Keegan [Hughes]. You need those moments to go your way."
Egbo had tied the score right after halftime when his shot from inside the box was deflected off Tanner Beason and up and over Thomas.
Beason put Stanford up early when Ousseni Bouda sent one in to the top of the six that was handed down by Akron's Marco Milanese. The Cardinal's redshirt senior captain stepped up and drilled his 12th career penalty in the 13th minute.
"The second half couldn't have started better for Akron," Gunn said. "It was one of those tough situations for players to be in. The tide turned in the first minute, but credit our team. We consolidated, got back track as the half went on and pushed more and more to eventually get that winning goal."
Andrew Thomas made six saves in the victory, including big stops in the 19th (Egbo), 37th (Will Jackson), 38th (Egbo) and 52nd (Jackson) minutes. He'll head down to San Diego next for the training camp and a friendly against Japan with the United States U-23 Men's National Team. Thomas is the only collegian on the U.S. roster.
Stanford is 30-15-10 all-time against ranked opponents under Gunn, including 23-3-6 in its last 32. Friday night was the fourth meeting between the Cardinal and Akron in the past five seasons. Stanford moved to 2-1-1 against the Zips since 2015 and is now 2-3-1 against Akron all-time.
"We are always desperate to seek out challenges," Gunn said of the early-season test. "Two incredible teams played an wonderfully competitive game in an incredible environment. Tonight tested our mettle and we demonstrated composure in a tough situation."
