LOS ANGELES – Charlie Wehan scored in the 81st minute and No. 7 Stanford earned its first victory in two weeks with a 1-0 win at UCLA on Thursday night.
The result, Stanford's first win since a 3-0 triumph over San Jose State on Sept. 24, snapped a string of three matches that saw the Cardinal draw twice and lose once. It was also Stanford's seventh consecutive victory over the Bruins and fourth in a row in Westwood. After going 6-39-6 against UCLA from 1973-2013, Stanford is 8-0-3 in its last 11 meetings with the Bruins.
The Cardinal's winner was a moment of brilliance in a game that saw few chances for either side. It was started on the left sideline by freshman Keegan Tingey, who played it back to senior Jared Gilbey. Gilbey passed ahead to freshman Ousseni Bouda at the corner of the box and immediately made his run. Gilbey jetted by his defender, took Bouda's back-heel pass and fed it in front of the face of goal to a charging Wehan. Wehan got inside his man and deposited the winner while tumbling into the back of the net.
"In these big, tough conference battles you need those special moments," Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn said. "That was a world-class goal."
One could feel the breakthrough was coming for the Cardinal, which had a young group grow throughout the game. Stanford started seven underclassmen, including each member of its back line and goalkeeper as the team was without stalwarts Tanner Beason (injury) and Logan Panchot (red card).
UCLA fired off eight shots, but forced Andrew Thomas into just two saves. Milan Iloski, the nation's leading goal scorer who put in five in the Bruins' last outing, managed two attempts.
"I thought they were magnificent," Gunn said of his youthful defense. "They defended very well in the first half when we weren't quite as settled on the ball as we'd like to be. Throughout the game they grew and grew and grew in confidence and composure."
The group combined for Stanford's sixth shutout of the season and lowered the Cardinal's goals against average to 0.69.
Wehan nearly got on the board in the 60th minute on a diving header off a Derek Waldeck cross the bounced wide. And in the 72nd minute Ousseni Bouda pelted the post from well beyond 20 yards to keep pressure on the Bruins.
"UCLA passed the ball very well in the first half and was the more comfortable of the two teams, but they weren't really testing our goalkeeper," Gunn added. "We got our foothold in the second half, stopped them from playing and passing as they had and were doing much better. As it was going you had a better feel for us. I had a strong belief we were going to edge it."
The win was a welcome one for a Cardinal side that gone draw, loss, draw in its previous three matches. Stanford hadn't been without a win in three consecutive games this late in a season since 2013.
"It's human nature to worry and to question, but the belief is always there [for us]," Gunn commented. "People are going to assess results and that's understandable. People can start to worry. It's a results-based word. But as far as I'm concerned you evaluate performance and how the team deals with adversity and overcomes obstacles. We've shown some incredible resiliency of late when circumstances have gone against us."
Stanford continues its road swing through Southern California on Sunday at noon when it takes on San Diego State.
