CLEMSON, S.C. - No. 5 Stanford earned a huge win on Friday night, taking down No. 2 Clemson 3-2 on the road. The win is Stanford Athletics’ first game and win against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent as part of the ACC.
Stanford improves to 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in conference play while Clemson falls to 1-1-1 and 0-1 in the ACC. The Cardinal now owns a 3-1-1 record all-time against the Tigers.
"Very proud of how the team performed tonight," said the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "It was a magnificent game of college soccer between two very good teams who both really played to create chances."
Clemson jumped in front first, scoring the opening goal in the third minute off a corner kick.
"I felt we looked good at the beginning of the game and had a very early chance, so then to concede so early on a set piece was disappointing and made it a really true testament to our mentality," added Gunn. "We remained composed and played very well in the first half."
The Cardinal responded quickly, however, when Jackson Kiil earned a penalty kick after being fouled by the Tigers’ keeper. Will Reilly stepped up to take the spot kick and expertly slotted it home to knot the game at one in the sixth minute.
"Some wonderful play created the penalty opportunity and Will Reilly calmly took the penalty to equalize," said Gunn. "We continued to play some wonderful soccer throughout the first half and we created openings in a game that was going back-and-forth with very exciting attacking soccer."
The remainder of the first half saw plenty of action each direction, but it was Stanford who found the advantage.
In the 42nd minute, the Cardinal charged into the offensive zone when Louis Sterobo launched in a cross to Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas, whose shot bounced off the crossbar. Alex Chow pounced towards the rebound when a Clemson defender attempted to block him from the ball and unintentionally sent it into the back of the net for a 2-1 Stanford lead.
"The go-ahead goal late in the first half was a wonderful piece of soccer with all three substitutes combing for the goal," explained Gunn. "Louis Sterobo put a wonderful cross in, Alfonso headed a shot off the crossbar, and Alex was there helping force it over the line."
In the second half, the game remained tense with both teams looking for an edge.
In the 75th minute, Stanford capitalized again. This time, Shane de Flores slotted home his fourth goal of the season after a well-worked offensive effort from Jackson Kiil and Dylan Groeneveld who each earned an assist.
"In the second half, we soaked up a lot of presssure and looked very disciplined in our defending moments," said Gunn." A wonderful flowing movement created the eventual game-winner, with great hold up play by Jackson, a great reverse pass to Dylan, and a fantastic finish at the back post by Shane."
De Flores now has eight points, two game-winning goals, and is averaging 0.8 goals per game.
Despite the 3-1 advantage for the Cardinal, the momentum shifted again when Clemson scored on a free kick just a minute later.
"Clemson's free kick brought the back into the game and it was truly about courageous defending in the last 10 minutes to see out the game," said Gunn. "An electrifying first conference game with an exciting atmosphere, and two very exciting teams battling it out toe-to-toe."
Each team fought until the final whistle, but Stanford held on with a strong defensive showing down the stretch to earn the top-five victory.
"The schedule doesn't get any easier," explained Gunn. "So we can be proud of our performance tonight and then it's back to work tomorrow when we get back to Stanford."
The Cardinal returns to action on Tuesday on The Farm, hosting UC Riverside at 7 p.m. at Cagan Stadium.