STANFORD, Calif. - No. 7 Stanford took down No. 8 Creighton 3-1 on Thursday afternoon at Cagan Stadium to open the 2023 season. Two first half goals put the Cardinal in front with a third goal coming in the second half to solidify the win.
"No matter how well you do in preseason, you can really build confidence, but you never really know what's going to happen in the first game," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "And I just thought that it was an absolutely emphatic performance."
The two teams battled from the first whistle as a yellow card for each team was issued within the first two minutes of the match. But it was Stanford who struck first in the 19th minute as Palmer Bank found Shane de Flores for a thumping shot into the top right corner of the Creighton goal.
Seven minutes later, Fletcher Bank linked up with Zach Bohane in the Bluejays box for another goal, doubling Stanford's advantage just past the halfway mark of the first 45 minutes.
Late in the first half however, Creighton pulled one back from a corner kick, sending the game into the break 2-1 in favor of the Cardinal.
"I think Johnny's a really good coach and they are a very good team," said Gunn. "They've got some incredible players and they were always in the game and capable of scoring. But in true fairness, our team generated so many chances that even though it was always tight and could go either way in the end, it was such a dominating performance."
The second half saw more pressure piled on by Stanford and ultimately resulted in a third goal for the hosts. Noah Adnan's header found freshman Duncan Jarvie primed in the box for a right-footed shot to put the Cardinal up two again.
Overall, Stanford registered 19 shots, eight of which were on goal against Creighton's seven shots and four on target. Zach Bohane and Shane de Flores led the Cardinal offensively, each tallying five shots throughout the contest.
Defensively, Jack Morris recorded three saves against one goal allowed in 90 minutes of action. Palmer Bank, Dylan Hooper, Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas, and Jarvie each earned their first minutes for the Cardinal with Bank and Hooper both starting as well.
"When you look at chance creation, that's really exciting," added Gunn. "First game out and so many really good performances. There are always a few things here and there, but I'm very pleased with how we performed."
"I'm very excited about how we came out of the blocks in the first game."
Stanford returns to action on Sunday against No. 17 Georgetown at 1 p.m. at Cagan Stadium.
