No. 5 Stanford vs. San Jose State
Thursday, August 22 • 7:00 p.m. PT | ACCNX
UP NEXT » Stanford faces off against San Jose State to kick off the 2024 campaign on Thursday night at Cagan Stadium. It marks the first regular season action for Stanford in 2024 after three exhibitions at Cagan earlier this August. This will be the 48th matchup in the all-time series between Stanford and San Jose State. The Cardinal has the advantage, owning a 27-13-7 record and a winning percentage of .649. The first competition between Stanford and the Spartans came in 1973 and the latest matchup came last year, when the Cardinal claimed a 2-0 victory in San Jose.
INAUGURAL ACC SEASON » Stanford kicks off it’s inaugural ACC season this year, completing its move from the Pac-12. The ACC will feature 15 men’s soccer programs, nine more conference opponents than the Cardinal had in its previous conference. Stanford will compete for ACC supremacy against Boston College, California, Clemson, Duke, Louisville, NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, SMU, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest. The new-look ACC features 15 men’s soccer programs this season with the addition of California, SMU and three-time national champion Stanford. Eleven of the ACC’s 15 programs competed in the NCAA Tournament last year.
STANFORD PICKED NO. 5 » The Cardinal was picked as the No. 5 team in the country by United Soccer Coaches on Tuesday. Stanford finished the 2023 season in the same ranking. The Cardinal returns the majority of its 2023 NCAA Tournament quarterfinal squad that went 11-4-5 and took down the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Marshall.
TOPDRAWER SOCCER PRESEASON BEST XI » Zach Bohane was named the No. 1 player in the TopDrawerSoccer Preseason 100, and was also named to the TDS Preseason Best XI. Shane de Flores joined Bohane on the Preseason Best XI teams, earning a spot on the second team. Bohane returns to college soccer as one of the most dynamic attackers in the country. He had eight goals and 11 assists for 27 points a season ago, and will look to continue leading Stanford from the front. De Flores adds even more firepower to an already potent Cardinal offense. The redshirt junior forward was second on the team with 22 points last season, coming from seven goals and eight assists.
ACC IN THE RANKINGS » Ten ACC teams are ranked in the preseason United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll, including five in the top 10. Clemson tops the poll at No. 1, while Notre Dame (2), Stanford (5), North Carolina (6) and SMU (10) also stand in the top 10. Also in the top 25: Virginia (13), Wake Forest (15), Duke (20), Louisville (24) and Syracuse (25). Both totals are the most of any conference. From the 11 current ACC teams that earned NCAA Tournament bids last season, Clemson, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Stanford reached the NCAA Quarterfinals, with the Tigers and Fighting Irish advancing to the NCAA College Cup as well as the championship game. ACC teams have won 20 NCAA men’s soccer championships, including three straight, with Clemson in 2021 and 2023 and Syracuse in 2022.
PRESEASON ALL-ACC » Zach Bohane was named Stanford’s first-ever Preseason All-ACC selection. The junior has already looked sharp this preseason, tallying the game-winning goal against Cal Poly in Stanford’s third and final preseason exhibition.
EXHIBITION SUCCESS » The Cardinal went undefeated during its preseason competitions, earning a 0-0 draw against San Francisco before taking home two 2-0 wins against Sacramento State and Cal Poly. Stanford will look to continue its defensive dominance into the regular season.
RETURNING PLAYERS » The Cardinal returns nine of its 11 starters, losing graduating seniors Mark Fisher and Ryan Dunn. The returning contingent includes Rowan Schnebly, Dylan Hooper, Noah Adnan, Palmer Bank, Fletcher Bank, Zach Bohane, Will Reilly, Shane de Flores, and Jackson Kiil who all started more than half of Stanford’s games last season.
NEWCOMER CARDINAL » Stanford welcomes eight new players to the team, including four freshmen, two graduate transfers, and two walk on players. Joe Moyer, Eric Frintu, Alex Chow, and Jordan Victor make up the newest class of Stanford players. Louis Sterobo from Saint Mary’s and Nik White from Harvard are using their final year of elegibility to compete as graduate transfers. Stanford also added Trevor Islam and Lazslo Bollyky, two walk on players, to the roster.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING » With a win on Thursday against San Jose State, Jeremy Gunn would earn his 150th win at the helm of the Cardinal.
SEASON ENDS IN QUARTERS » The Cardinal fell to No. 9 Clemson to conclude the 2023 season in Clemson, South Carolina. The match was Stanford’s first appearance in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament since 2019. The appearance in 2019 was Stanford’s fifth straight season resulting in at least a quarterfinal appearance. Stanford wrapped up the season at 11-4-5 and moved to 2-1-1 against Clemson in the all-time series, Stanford’s first ever loss to the Tigers. The 2019 matchup was also an NCAA quarterfinal match, resulting in a College Cup appearance for Stanford. In 2015, the Cardinal knocked off the Tigers 4-0 in the NCAA Championship match to win its first title.
POSTSEASON REGULARS » The 2023 NCAA Tournament second round match against Missouri State marked Stanford’s 10th appearance in the NCAA tournament in the last 11 seasons and its 21st NCAA tournament appearance overall. The Cardinal has made seven College Cups, most recently in 2019, along with five College Cup Finals and three NCAA Championships (2015-17).
BALANCED ATTACK » 16 players registered a point in 2023, leading the Cardinal to 43 goals and 55 assists through 20 matches. Zach Bohane led the way with 27 points on eight goals and 11 assists while Shane de Flores was second with 22 points coming from seven goals and eight assists. Bohane’s 27 points were the most for a Cardinal since Foster Langsdorf’s 34 in 2017, and his 11 assists were the most for a Stanford player since 2015 (Corey Baird & Eric Verso - 13).
TEAM FIRST MENTALITY » Stanford had three players ranked nationally in the top-45 in assists per game, led by Zach Bohane at sixth (0.61). Fletcher Bank finished 29th (0.47) while Shane de Flores was 45th (0.42). The three players were also in the top-five in assists per game in the Pac-12, with Bohane leading the conference.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE » Rowan Schnebly led Stanford to three consecutive shutouts during the 2024 preseason. The Cardinal defense held its opponents scoreless and earned a goal differential of +4 during its three exhibitions. Last season, Schnebly allowed 13 goals in his 15 starts last season, pacing the conference in goals against average while sitting second in total goals against, and is fifth in save percentage. The redshirt freshman keeper finished 8-3-4 on the season. Schnebly and fellow keeper Jack Morris combined to record seven shutouts on the season, most recently at No. Marshall in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
SETTING THE STANDARD » Stanford’s offense was among the best in the nation in 2023, averaging 2.89 assists per game for the third-best mark in the NCAA. The Cardinal also ranked third in total assists (55), sixth in total points (141), seventh in points per game (7.42), ninth in goal differential (+26), ninth in scoring offense (2.26), 10th in total goals (43), and 18th in won-lost-tied percentage (0.711).
YOUTH MOVEMENT » Stanford featured starting lineups including eight underclassmen on five occasions last season. Against Creighton, Georgetown, UCLA, San Diego State, Saint Mary’s, and Oregon State, the Cardinal has started only three upperclassmen, Mark Fisher, Noah Adnan, and Will Reilly.
A DOMINANT RUN » Under Jeremy Gunn, Stanford has solidified its place among college soccer’s elite. No team has won more NCAA titles since 2006 than the Cardinal (3). The Cardinal has won six of the last eight Pac-12 championships, including five straight titles from 2014-18.
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE » Stanford is one of just two programs to win three straight NCAA titles (2015-17). Virginia won four in a row from 1991-94. It is also one of seven to win at least three national championships along with Saint Louis (10), Indiana (8), Virginia (7), San Francisco (4), UCLA (4) and Maryland (4). Stanford went 52-7-10 (.826) during its three-year championship run.
GREAT UNDER GUNN » One of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, head coach Jeremy Gunn has led a team to the College Cup final four times in the past ten seasons. He and Virginia’s Bruce Arena (1991-94) are the only coaches to win three consecutive NCAA men’s soccer championships. His teams are 149-47-46 (.716) in his 12 seasons on The Farm and he owns a career record of 336-108-77 (.721) in 23 seasons, a mark which makes him the eighth-winningest active coach at the Division I level (by percentage). Gunn’s 336 career wins rank 12th among all active coaches currently at the Division I level.