No. 7 seed Stanford vs. No. 10 seed Notre Dame
Wednesday, November 6 • 6:00 p.m. PT | ACCNX
UP NEXT » Stanford makes its first-ever ACC Men’s Soccer Championship appearance as the seventh seed in the bracket, playing host to No. 10-seed Notre Dame in the first round on Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT on ACC Network Extra. The Cardinal prevailed in the regular-season contest between the two programs, securing a 1-0 victory on Sept. 14 after a 22nd-minute score from Jackson Kiil. It will be just the third time Stanford and Notre Dame have squared off and the first in postseason play, with a 1-1 split in the series that dates back to 2016.
LAST TIME OUT » The regular season ended on a sour note for Stanford, dropping a 1-0 contest to California last Friday after surrending the game-winning goal in the 81st minute. “It was a really exciting game of soccer,” Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn said. “They launched the ball at us all game and it was quite difficult to deal with. As a staff, we got our tactics completely wrong and we’ll take responsibility for the result today.” Zach Bohane led the team with three shots, including an attack on goal. Fletcher Bank, Dylan Groeneveld, Will Reilly, and Nik White also put a ball on target, while Rowan Schnebly notched three spots between the posts.
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.
NEW CONFERENCE FORMAT » This season’s ACC Men’s Soccer Championships will be the first time Stanford has competed for conference title under the postseason bracket format. Stanford won seven conference titles under the Pac-12 banner (2001, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020), which was given to the program with the best conference record at the conclusion of the regular season.
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 (26-15), shots (216-137), shots per game (13.5-8.6), assists (29-11), and corner kicks (97-66).
CONFERENCE STATS » Stanford finds itself near the top of many statistical categories in the ACC, ranking second in goals against average (0.938) and shutout percentage (0.375), fifth in corner kicks per game (6.06), and sixth in assists per game (1.81) 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 19th nationally and first in the ACC. He also sits third in the conference in goalie minutes (1432:31) and goals against average (0.942).
ACC IN THE RANKINGS » Six ACC teams are ranked in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Poll, including three in the top five. The ACC’s six teams in the top 25 marks the most of any conference. Duke leads the way as the second-ranked team in the nation, followed by Clemson (7th), Pittsburgh (9th), North Carolina (14th), NC State (21).
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 that which 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 157-51-50 (.705) in his 12 seasons on The Farm and he owns a career record of 344-112-81 (.716) 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.