STANFORD, Calif. - In game in which the Cardinal dominated offensive possession, Stanford was awarded late as a late goal lifted them a 2-1 exhibition win over Cal State Bakersfield on Thursday afternoon.
"I thought [today's game] was a good question to be asked of our program," said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer. "You could sense some frustration, but today was about how we respond to that frustration. We didn't get overly frustrated, we continued to carve out chances, and we finally got the winning goal late in the game."
Stanford controlled the tempo from the opening whistle, generating eight attacks to the Roadrunners' four in the opening 45 minutes.
The Cardinal struck first in the 25th minute, as a Fletcher Bank feed found the right foot of Zach Bohane, who slotted it home to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.
Cal State Bakersfield answered with its only lone scoring opportunity of the contest, as Dakotah Medina fired a shot past a diving Schnebly to draw even after a lopsided first half.
"We played very well at the beginning of the game," Gunn added. "We were definitely dominating but we weren't creating enough chances to get that second goal. [Cal State] Bakersfield took their one good chance very well and suddenly we were tied again."
Stanford kept up the pressure after the break, holding possession in the attacking half for most of the second frame.
The Cardinal breakthrough finally in the 84th minute, as Eric Frintu won a battle for the ball and centered it to Shane De Flores, who eventually fired left side and found the back of the net for his second goal of the preseason.
Stanford's defense locked things down the rest of the way, capping off the second win of the preseason. Twenty-five Cardinal made an appearance for the second consecutive exhibition, finishing the day with a 22-25 shot advantage and a slight 6-5 edge on corner kicks.
Stanford concludes the preseason on August 16 as it hosts Cal Poly at 7 p.m., before opening the regular season against Sacramento State on August 21.
Tickets to both contests can be purchased here.