STANFORD, Calif. - Both teams had their chances, but No. 20 Stanford and San Jose State settled for a scoreless draw Saturday night at Cagan Stadium.
The result pushes the Cardinal to 2-1-1 on the year.
"Thought it was a really exciting game, and a great college soccer match," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "Both teams were desperately trying to push for the result, and we just canceled each other out a little bit. Throughout the game, we had the better chances, the better possession, the better territory, but we were just lacking that final touch."
Stanford seemed poised to score early, using an energetic attack from Ousseni Bouda, Layton Purchase and Gabe Segal, but they were not rewarded for their efforts. Carlo Agostinelli came on late in the first half and immediately provided a spark for the Cardinal, and although the teams entered the break tied at zero, Stanford had the lions share of better chances after 45 minutes.
San Jose State responded with an increased attack in the second period and some stiff defense. Keepers for both sides were forced to make a handful of acrobatic saves, as Stanford finished the night with 19 shots, including seven on goal.
The Cardinal thought it had won the game, not just once, but twice. First on a goal that appeared to be scored by Agostinelli, but waved off as the ball was shot mere seconds after the 90 minute mark. Into overtime, Layton Purchase celebrated a would-be winner, but was whistled for a hand ball prior to getting his shot off.
"So many times we almost made it. We did everything but score. Credit to San Jose State, they have a good team and played very well."
Goalkeeper Matt Frank finished with four saves for the Cardinal in a shutout effort.
"Overall, it was a pretty solid perforamnce," added Gunn. "We just needed to make that one chance to go in. On another night we could've edged a couple of goals and the game would've changed. Now we regroup and open up Pac-12 play next week. Excited to start the conference."
Stanford returns to action next week, opening Pac-12 play in Southern California at UCLA an San Diego State.
