Dylan HooperDylan Hooper
Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos
Men's Soccer

Clash with California

No. 22 Stanford hosts the Golden Bears on Friday to close the regular season

UP NEXT » No. 22 Stanford (8-3-4, 3-1-3 ACC) closes out the regular season on Friday evening with a clash against California (5-7-2, 1-4-2 ACC) at Cagan Stadium. The match will take place at 7 p.m. PT on ACC Network Extra. Stanford holds a 39-24-12 all-time record against the Golden Bears in a series that dates back to 1973. The Cardinal is 6-3-1 in its previous ten contests against California, outscoring the Bay Area rival, 20-7, in that span.

LAST TIME OUT » Stanford struggled to break through on the offensive end, dropping a 2-1 contest to No. 11 North Carolina on Sunday evening. Zach Bohane found the back of the net with 74 seconds left, scoring on a Nik White dish to cut the Tar Heel lead in half, but it was too late as North Carolina melted out the final moments to secure the win. Stanford paced the game with 13 shots to the Tar Heels’ seven, with four attacks on target. The Cardinal also held a 6-2 advantage on corner kicks.

TDS MIDSEASON TOP-100 » Top Drawer Soccer released its Midseason Top 100 player rankings on Thursday, featuring five Cardinal among the nationally-recognized student-athletes. Zach Bohane leads the way for Stanford at No. 9 in the rankings, followed by No. 14 Noah Adnan, No. 30 Rowan Schnebly, No. 39 Fletcher Bank, and No. 56 Dylan Hooper

ROOKIE RECOGNITION » Alex Chow also received national recognition by Top Drawer Soccer, slotting in at No. 18 in the Top Drawer Soccer Midseason Top 100 Freshman list. Chow has made seven starts in his 14 appearances for the Cardinal this season, registering assists in wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside this season.

STANFORD IN THE RANKINGS » Stanford slots in at No. 13 in this week’s TopDrawerSoccer rankings and No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings after falling to a ranked North Carolina program on October 27. It is the lowest the Cardinal have been ranked in both polls this season after going 0-2-3 in the month of October.

TEAM FIRST MENTALITY » Stanford is home to plenty of offensive playmakers. Zach Bohane ranks 21st in the nation and second in the ACC in game-winning goals (3). Bohane also ranks fourth in the ACC in shots per game (2.83), while Fletcher Bank is among the conference’s best in total assists, ranking 14th in the ACC (4).

SHARING THE SCORING » 19 Stanford players have registered a point this season, three more than during the entire 2023 campaign. Zach Bohane paces the group with 13 points, followed by Shane De Flores (11), then Fletcher Bank and Jackson Kiil (8). 12 of the 19 players have tallied multiple points.

TEAM STATISTICAL SUCCESS » All season long, the Cardinal has been outpacing its opponents in each offensive statistical category. Stanford holds the edge in goals (26-14), shots (205-124), shots per game (13.7-8.3), assists (29-10), and corner kicks (92-62).

CONFERENCE STATS » Stanford finds itself near the top of many statistical categories in the ACC, ranking second in goals against average (0.933) and shutout percentage (0.400), third in corner kicks per game (6.13), and sixth in assists per game (1.93) and total assists (29).

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE » Rowan Schnebly has been among the nation’s best in goal through 15 games, leading Stanford to six shutouts this season, which ranks 17th nationally and first in the ACC. He also sits third in the conference in goalie minutes (1342:31) and fourth in goals against average (0.939)

ACC IN THE RANKINGS » Seven ACC teams are ranked in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Poll, including three in the top five. The ACC’s seven teams in the top 25 marks the most of any conference. Clemson leads the conference as the second-ranked team in the nation, followed by Pittsburgh (3), Duke (5), North Carolina (8), NC State (12), SMU (20), and Stanford (22). ACC teams have held the No. 1 national ranking in six of the 11 national polls this season (Pitt 3, Clemson 2, Stanford 1).

ACCOMPLISHED ACC » Eight active ACC programs have won at least one national championship, the most of any conference. The 15 active ACC schools have combined for 20 NCAA titles (Virginia 7, Clemson 4, Stanford 3, North Carolina 2, Duke 1, Notre Dame 1, Syracuse 1, Wake Forest 1).

DOMINANT COACHING » Six active ACC head coaches have won D-I national championships as a head coach: Mike Noonan (Clemson), Carlos Somoano (UNC), Jay Vidovich (Pitt), Jeremy Gunn (Stanford), Ian McIntyre (Syracuse) and George Gelnovatch (Virginia). NC State’s Marc Hubbard won a Division II national title in 2013.

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 eligibility to compete as graduate transfers. Stanford also added Trevor Islam and Lazslo Bollyky, two walk-on players, to the roster.

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).

INAUGURAL ACC SEASON » Stanford kicks off its inaugural ACC season this year, completing its move from the Pac-12. The ACC features 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.

CONFERENCE PROWESS » Nine ACC teams earned bids to the 2023 NCAA Championship, most of any conference in the 2023 tournament. Stanford (Quarterfinals) and SMU (Third Round) also competed in the 2023 tournament. 2023 marked the 11th straight season in which the ACC placed the most teams in the tournament and the 23rd consecutive season which at least five league teams earned a bid.

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 10 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 157-50-50 (.708) in his 12 seasons on The Farm and he owns a career record of 344-111-81 (.717) in 23 seasons, a mark which makes him the sixth-winningest active coach at the Division I level (by percentage). Gunn’s 344 career wins rank 12th among all active coaches currently at the Division I level.