SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 5 Cardinal continued its undefeated streak on Saturday night, taking down UC Santa Barbara 2-1 on the road. Stanford moves to 5-0-3 on the season while the Gauchos move to 5-2-2 on the year.
"Yet again, we were in an amazing game of soccer," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "Another exciting game with two very good teams going toe-to-toe."
The Gauchos struck first, scoring in the third minute to take the lead. The goal was only Stanford's third conceded on the year and only the second goal allowed during the run of play.
"Santa Barbara started on the front foot and scored the early goal, which made life difficult for us on the road, in front of a huge crowd, and a goal down," said Gunn. "The players stayed composed and deservedly got ourselves back in the game with a fairly quick reply."
Stanford bounced back quickly, with Jackson Kiil scoring his third goal of the season, knotting the game up at one apiece 12 minutes after the Santa Barbara opener. Keegan Tingey threaded a perfect ball to the feet of Kiil, leading him toward the goal and he slotted it home with his left foot.
"The game ended up having a pretty clear pattern," explained Gunn. "We had a lot of really great passing sequences, were composed on the ball, and we built our attacks and created opportunities. We really looked like we were on top in terms of possession and being in charge of the game."
In a statistically evenly matched contest, each team recorded seven shots while Stanford held a slim advantage in corners, 4-3. However, the Cardinal often had control of the ball while the Gauchos looked to attack on the counter.
"When we would lose possession, Santa Barbara was electrifying on the counter attack," said Gunn. "The phases would see us play and play, and immediately Santa Barbara would be looking to counter and appear very dangerous in those moments."
Despite the Gauchos threatening counter attack, the Cardinal took the lead five minutes into the second half.
Carlo Agostinelli took a corner in the 50th minute and found Keegan Hughes who headed home the goal for the 2-1 advantage. It marked Hughes first goal of the season and Agostinelli's third assist.
"I'm really happy about how composed we were and really impressed with how disciplined the players were," said Gunn. "I felt that we really put together a rock solid road performance that blended great play with great discipline. Overall, a great victory, a great performance and onto the next challenge."
The undefeated Cardinal return to Pac-12 play this week, facing California on Thursday night in Cagan Stadium.