SEATTLE - In a highly anticipated matchup between the last two Pac-12 conference champions, Stanford and #4 Washington fought to a double overtime 0-0 draw.
Stanford adds a fifth draw, moving to 5-6-5 (2-4-3) while this marked Washington's first draw of the season as the Huskies move to 12-1-1 (4-1-1).
"It was an incredible game, it was always on a knife edge," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "I felt that we played really well on the ball and had some wonderful ball movement and great attacking moments."
The Cardinal held firm throughout the first half, stifling Washington's seven first half shots. The best chance of the first half for Stanford came in the final minutes before the break when Ryan Dunn lobbed in a ball to Noah Adnan whose header sailed just outside the post.
"Chances were hard to come by in the game, but I was very excited that we were able to carve out some good chances from some great open play passing and movement," added Gunn. "Noah Adnan had a chance off a set piece, but we also had Ousseni, Carlo, Zach, and Will who all had chances from open play that were either blocked or close."
Coming out of the break, it was more of the same solid defending from the Cardinal, consistently quelling Washington's offense.
"On the other side of the ball, I felt that we really reduced a very potent Washington attack to very few open play chances," said Gunn. "I think when you look at the shots that they recorded, most of them were headers off set pieces. They're a phenomenal set piece team and they've scored nearly half their goals from set pieces."
Stanford increased the attacking in the second half to the tune of four shots and a pair of corner kicks. But it was the Cardinal's defense that stole the show, holding off a Washington attack that averages 2.46 goals per game.
"I thought our team did very well on challenging on the initial deliveries and boxing people out on the ball when it was kept alive in our box," said Gunn. "So very very proud of how we competed, and proud of how we played with courage in a really tough game."
The game headed into both overtime and double overtime with a 0-0 scoreline, but the Stanford defense held strong and earned a point against Washington.
"Overall, I'm very happy with the shutout against a top ranked team and we were so close with being able to find the winner," added Gunn. "So we keep our playoff push very much alive with that result and performance, and so I'm excited to keep moving on, keep chasing, and to keep competing."
The Cardinal are back in action at the University of San Francisco on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
