UP NEXT » Stanford begins the pursuit of its fourth national title on Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA DI Men’s Soccer Championship, playing host to UC Santa Barbara on Sunday at 5 p.m. PT. The Gauchos are coming off a 1-0 opening round victory over UCLA on Thursday. Stanford holds a 16-2-2 record over UC Santa Barbara all-time in a series that dates back to 1973. The two programs most recently met in 2022, where the Cardinal prevailed for a 2-1 road victory.
POSTSEASON REGULARS » Stanford was selected as the No. 16 seed during Monday’s NCAA selection show, marking the Cardinal’s 11th NCAA Championship appearance in the last 12 seasonsand the 22nd appearance in program history. Stanford has reached the third round of the bracket each of the last two seasons and holds claim to one of the most dominant NCAA tournament runs in recent history, winning three consecutive consecutive national championships from 2015-2017. The program is most recently reached the College Cup in 2019, its seventh appearance all-time.
CARDINAL VS. THE FIELD » Stanford compiled a 3-3-3 against teams in the NCAA tournament field this season, boasting wins over No. 8 Clemson (3-2), No. 11 Virginia (1-0), and UC Davis (1-0). The Cardinal earned draws against No. 10 Duke (2-2), No. 12 SMU (2-2) and NC State (0-0) and dropped matches against No. 3 Denver (0-1), No. 8 Clemson (0-1), and North Carolina (1-2).
TOURNAMENT TESTED » Stanford brings an experienced roster to the postseason, featuring 15 players that have made at least one NCAA tournament appearance - Noah Adnan (5), Fletcher Bank (5), Will Cleary (5), Shane De Flores (5), Liam Doyle (5), Jackson Kiil (5), Will Reilly (5), Zach Bohane (4), Palmer Bank (3), Dylan Hooper (3), Conner Maurer (3), Rowan Schnebly (3), Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas (3), Duncan Jarvie (1), and Jack Morris (1). Of that group, Bohane, De Flores, and Doyle lead the way with a pair of postseason goals, while Kiil and Reilly have each scored one.
ALL-CONFERENCE NOD » Cardinal midfielder Zach Bohane was named an All-ACC First Team honoree in Stanford’s inaugural season in the conference. Making 14 starts in his 15 appearances, Bohane led the Cardinal in goals (5) and points (13), while also being tied for third on the team in assists (3). Bohane ranked third in the conference in game-winning goals (3) and shots per game (2.80), burying the deciding goals against San Jose State, UC Riverside, and Virginia. The junior midfielder has also been one of Stanford’s most prolific offensive threats throughout his career, sitting second on the team in career points (42) with 13 goals and 16 assists during his three seasons on The Farm.
LAST TIME OUT » Stanford men’s soccer’s ACC tournament run came to an end after falling 1-0 to the second-seeded Clemson Tigers in a rain-soaked quarterfinal contest. “We had a couple of great chances, but we just weren’t quite capable of putting them away,” said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer. After the two sides went into the halftime break scoreless, Clemson broke the deadlock in the 61st-minute and put on a stout defensive display down the stretch to seasl the shutout win.
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.
SHARING THE SCORING » 20 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 Jackson Kiil (10). 14 of the 20 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 (29-18), shots (241-157), shots per game (13.4-8.7), assists (31-13), and corner kicks (109-74).
ACC IN THE TOURNAMENT » Nine ACC programs earned bids to the NCAA tournament this season, including seven among the top-16 seeded teams, the most of any conference. Pittsburgh leads the way as the No. 2 overall seed, followed by No. 8 Wake Forest, No. 9 Clemson, No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Virginia, No. 12 SMU, No. 16 Stanford, NC State, and North Carolina.
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). 2024 marked the 11th straight season in which the ACC placed the most teams in the tournament and the 23rd consecutive season that which least five league teams earned a bid.
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.
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.
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 158-52-50 (.704) in his 12 seasons on The Farm and he owns a career record of 344-113-81 (.715) 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.