SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2025
#6 STANFORD CARDINAL (8-1-1) vs. BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES (5-4-0)
Cagan Stadium | Stanford, Calif.
MATCH NOTES » Stanford and Boston College are set to face off for the first time as conference foes, renewing a series that dates back to 1985. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 1987, with the Cardinal boasting a 2-0-0 record, having yet to allow a goal against the Eagles. Both programs enter Sunday’s contest on different trajectories in recent years. Stanford has been a postseason mainstay under Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn, making the NCAA Tournament in 11 of Gunn’s 13 seasons with three national championships (2015-17). Meanwhile, Boston College is looking to make its return to the national stage, reaching the postseason just once in the last eight seasons.
LAST TIME OUT » No. 6 Stanford showcased its resilience once again on Wednesday night, scoring a walk-off goal in the 90th minute to complete a 3-2 comeback victory over Oregon State. Will Cleary got Stanford on the board first in the 33rd minute, but the Cardinal surrendered the next two scores to sit down a goal in the second half. Shane De Flores pulled the Cardinal level with a 75th-minute equalizer, before setting up a Tomo Allen game-winner with just 36 seconds left to lead Stanford to victory over its former Pac-12 rival. Stanford held a 15-9 advantage on shots and a 7-2 edge on corner kicks, while netminder Rowan Schnebly tallied four saves in the winning effort.
HANDLED THE HOKIES » Hosting its first ACC match in front of a strong Cagan Stadium crowd last Sunday, No. 3 Stanford earned a convincing 3-1 victory over Virginia Tech on Sunday. The Cardinal controlled the contest from wire-to-wire, with Fletcher Bank, Zach Bohane, and Jack Pymm finding the back of the net in the winning effort. Bohane also dished the assist on Pymm’s score, marking the second time the senior captain has registered both a goal and an assist in a game this season. Cardinal netminder Rowan Schnebly also had a strong showing between the posts, recording a season-high five saves.
COMEBACK CARDINAL » Wednesday’s 90th-minute game-winner from Tomo Allen was yet another example of the Cardinal’s comeback mentality this season, as Stanford moved to 2-1-1 in matches where it entered the 80th minute trailing. Prior to Wednesday’s victory over Oregon State, Fletcher Bank and Trevor Islam combined to score two goals in the final 10 minutes on September 13. Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas also helped Stanford earn a late result against San Jose State, scoring his second goal of the match with 40 seconds left to salvage a 2-2 draw against the Spartans on September 17. Stanford is no stranger to late-game heroics, as Duncan Jarvie and Dylan Hooper each scored game-winners beyond the 80th minute last season.
NATIONAL NOD FOR PARTAL » After recording three assists in last week’s matches against San Jose State and Virginia Tech, freshman midfielder Joshua Partal was named to the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week. Partal registered both assists in last Wednesday’s draw against San Jose State, recording the first multi-assist effort by a Cardinal player this season. The Bangor, Maine native added another helper at the corner flag against Virginia Tech, delivering a beautiful service that led to a Zach Bohane goal. Partal leads Stanford with five assists this season, already matching last season’s assist leader, Will Reilly, just nine games into his freshman season.
FRESH FACES MAKING AN IMPACT » Through nine games this season, four freshmen have found the scoresheet for the Cardinal. Jack Pymm leads the newcomers with three goals, while Tomo Allen and Jude Stone have also tallied scores. Meanwhile, Joshua Partal has been Stanford’s leading facilitator with five assists on the campaign. This season is the first time since 2022 that three newcomers have scored goals in the same season, with Fletcher Bank, Liam Doyle, and Zach Bohane all scoring that season. Allen, Partal, and Pymm also each cracked the starting lineup in a 3-1 win over Saint Mary’s on Sept. 9, marking the first time that has happened since Bank, Doyle, and Will Cleary started together against the Gaels on October 15, 2022. Additionally, eight of the nine freshmen have earned playing time this season, with Brad Bennett, Victor Fung, Dillon Logan, and Aidan Reilly all seeing the pitch.
HOME SWEET HOME » Stanford boasts a 322-128-74 (.684) record on The Farm dating back to the 1973 season, with Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn (99-23-28 (.748)) set to hit the home century mark with his next win at Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal is matching its best home start to a season since 2014, winning each of its first six contests on The Farm. Last season, the Cardinal went 6-3-4 on home turf, outscoring opponents 24-13.
CARD IN THE RANKINGS » Stanford comes in at No. 6 in both the United Soccer Coaches poll and the TopDrawerSoccer rankings after a 1-0-1 week. Reaching as high as No. 1 in the national polls for the third consecutive year, the Cardinal returns a veteran core that finished 9-5-6 last season and reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
TEAM STATISTICAL SUCCESS » Stanford has outpaced its opponents in every statistical category approaching the halfway mark of the season, holding an advantage in goals (21-10), shots (168-65), shots on goal (58-25), shots per game (18.7-7.2), assists (16-8), and corner kicks (64-32). The Cardinal also held the statistical edge in each major offensive category throughout 2024.
SPREADING THE WEALTH » Through ten matches this season, Stanford has had nine players find the back of the net with 13 total Cardinal contributing to the scoresheet. Zach Bohane, Trevor Islam, and Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas lead the Cardinal with four goals each, followed by Fletcher Bank and Jack Pymm with three scores. Joshua Partal has been Stanford’s leading distributor with five assists, while Bohane and Shane De Flores have each tallied a trio of helpers. Stanford finished the 2024 season with 20 players recording at least one point, including seven who scored multiple goals. Bohane paced last year’s group with 13 points, followed by Shane De Flores (11) and Jackson Kiil (10). Fourteen of the 20 players finished with multiple points.
A PERFECT PRESEASON » The Cardinal kicked off 2025 with an undefeated preseason, posting exhibition wins over San Francisco, Cal State Bakersfield, and Cal Poly at Cagan Stadium. Stanford outscored its opponents 5-1 across the three matches, with 25 Cardinal getting valuable minutes before the regular season gets underway. Shane De Flores led Stanford with three preseason goals, while Zach Bohane and freshman Jude Stone also found the back of the net.
GREAT UNDER GUNN » One of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, head coach Jeremy Gunn has led Stanford to the College Cup final four times since 2015. He and Virginia’s Bruce Arena (1991-94) are the only coaches to win three consecutive NCAA men’s soccer championships. His teams are 166-53-53 (.706) in his 13 seasons on The Farm and he owns a career record of 353-114-84 (.716) in 26 seasons, a mark which makes him the tenth-winningest active coach at the Division I level (by percentage). Gunn’s 353 victories rank 12th among active D-I head coaches by win total.
NEW CARDINAL COACHES » Two new members of the Cardinal coaching staff enter the fold for 2025, as Drew Hutchins and Woo Jeon join the sideline this upcoming season. Hutchins, a 2014 Stanford graduate, arrives on The Farm after spending one season as an assistant coach for NC State. During his time in Raleigh, Hutchins helped guide the Wolfpack to a 10-5-5 record and an NCAA Sweet Sixteen appearance. Hutchins makes his return to Stanford after a four-year playing career from 2010-2013, where he started every game his final two seasons. Jeon is set to serve as assistant coach for the Cardinal after a two-year stint with Cal Poly. Most recently serving as associate head coach for the Mustangs, Cal Poly made two Big West championship appearances and earned the program’s first Big West regular season title in 2024 during Jeon’s two years in San Luis Obispo.
RETURNING CARDINAL » The Cardinal brings back eight veterans who made 15+ starts for the program last season, including leading scorers Zach Bohane and Shane De Flores, as well as third-year netminder Rowan Schnebly. Other key returners include Fletcher Bank, Palmer Bank, Will Cleary, Dylan Groeneveld, and Dylan Hooper, while Alex Chow and Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas are also expected to play major roles after making 19+ appearances a season ago.
FUTURE OF THE FARM » Stanford’s loaded freshman class was lauded as the highest-ranked recruiting class in the ACC and the No. 2 rated recruiting class nationally by TopDrawerSoccer. The 2025 recruiting class includes No. 36 Victor Fung (D), No. 48 Tomo Allen (F), No. 52 Jack Pymm (M), No. 123 Jude Stone (M), No. 162 Brayden Montague (GK), Brad Bennett (M), Dillon Logan (F), Joshua Partal (M), and Aidan Reilly (D). The group represents the Cardinal’s highest-ranked recruiting class since 2019.
ALL EYES ON BOHANE » Zach Bohane was selected to a pair of preseason watch lists ahead of the 2025 campaign, as the senior midfielder was featured on the ACC Preseason Watch List while also being named as a TopDrawerSoccer Midfielder to Watch. Bohane made 16 starts in his 17 appearances in 2024, leading the Cardinal in goals (5), points (13), shots (49), shots on goal (21), and game-winning goals (3). He went on to garner First Team All-ACC honors as well as a United Soccer Coaches Second Team selection. A native of Monte Sereno, Calif., Bohane has been one of Stanford’s most prolific scoring threats throughout his career, sitting second among active players in career points (42) with 13 goals and 16 assists during his three seasons on The Farm.
TOPDRAWERSOCCER PRESEASON BEST XI » TopDrawerSoccer named Zach Bohane to the Preseason Best XI Second Team, giving the midfielder his second consecutive preseason nod by the outlet. Bohane was also listed at No. 17 in the TDS 2025 Preseason Men’s College Top 100 Players list, joining goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly, who was ranked No. 77.
2024 REVISITED » Stanford remained among the nation’s elite in 2024, finishing 9-5-6 to secure the program’s 22nd all-time postseason appearance and the 11th NCAA Tournament berth in Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn’s 12 seasons at the helm. After a blazing 7-1 start to the year, the Cardinal climbed to a No. 1 national ranking for the second consecutive season. Despite a string of draws and close losses in the latter half of the regular season, the team’s defining moment came in the opening round of the ACC Tournament, when Dylan Hooper scored from beyond midfield to seal a dramatic 3-2, buzzer-beating win over Notre Dame. Earning the No. 16 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Stanford prevailed over UC Santa Barbara with a 6-5 win in penalties to advance to the NCAA third round, but would fall victim to the other side of penalty kicks in a scoreless draw at top-seeded Ohio State to end the 2024 campaign.
ACADEMIC WEAPONS » Stanford got it done both on the pitch and in the classroom in 2024, honored by the United Soccer Coaches with the 2024-25 College Team Academic Award. The Cardinal boasted a 3.74 grade point average, the highest GPA among Division-I award winners. Additionally, 15 student-athletes were named All-ACC Academic Team selections in 2024, with Noah Adnan, Fletcher Bank, Palmer Bank, Zach Bohane, Alex Chow, Liam Doyle, Dylan Groeneveld, Dylan Hooper, Dylan Jarvie, Jackson Kiil, Kwabena Kwakwa, Will Reilly, Rowan Schnebly, Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas, and Nik White all recognized by the conference.
SOPHOMORE SEASON IN THE ACC » Stanford ranked tied for fifth in the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) preseason poll, sitting behind Clemson, defending champion Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, and Duke. Stanford went 3-2-3 in conference play during its inaugural ACC season, picking up three key road wins over No. 2 Clemson, No. 23 Notre Dame, and Virginia. Heading into 2025, the Cardinal eyes first-time conference matchups against Boston College, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech.
ACC IN THE RANKINGS » Six ACC programs are ranked in the latest United Soccer Coaches poll, the most of any conference, including each of the top-three ranked teams. No. 1 Wake Forest is this week’s highest-ranked team in the conference, followed by No. 2 NC State, No. 3 Stanford, No. 12 Louisville, No. 14 Clemson, and No. 19 Duke. Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Virginia, and North Carolina are each receiving votes.
CONFERENCE DOMINANCE » The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has proven to be the pinnacle of the sport with eight ACC programs having won an NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, the most of any conference. Virginia leads the league with seven national titles, followed by Clemson (4), Stanford (3), North Carolina (2), Duke (1), Notre Dame (1), Syracuse (1), and Wake Forest (1). Six active ACC head coaches have won D-I national championships including Jeremy Gunn, Mike Noonan (Clemson), Carlos Somoano (North Carolina), Jay Vidovich (Pittsburgh), Ian McIntyre (Syracuse), and George Gelnovatch (Virginia). NC State’s Marc Hubbard won a Division II national title in 2013.
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
POSTSEASON REGULARS » Stanford’s 2024 NCAA tournament bid marked the Cardinal’s 11th appearance in the NCAA tournament in the last 12 seasons and its 22nd 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).
HOME OF CHAMPIONS » Stanford is the all-time leader with 137 NCAA team championships (70 men, 67 women), and 173 national championships overall. The Cardinal owns the most recognizable streak in college athletics, having won at least one NCAA team title during each of the last 49 seasons, dating back to the 1976-77 campaign. The Cardinal has also produced 565 NCAA individual champions and 658 overall. Stanford has won the Learfield Directors’ Cup in 26 of the possible 31 seasons, including a 25-year streak from 1995-2019.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES » Boston College enters Sunday’s contest with a 5-4-0 record under sixth-year head coach Bob Thompson, looking for its second win in ACC play. Mercy (D-II) transfer Johannes Hanken Tjostheim leads the scoring for BC with ten points and five goals, while Ask Ekeland has dished a team-high three assists. Andrej Borak leads the Eagles in net, posting three shutouts this season with 28 saves across eight games.
NOW AND LATER » Stanford completes a three-game homestand on Sunday, September 28, welcoming Boston College to Cagan Stadium for its fourth conference match of the season. The game will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra with Alejandro Flores and Tim Swartz on the call. Stanford will then head back to the East Coast for a ranked showdown against Wake Forest next Saturday.
A LOOK AHEAD » The 16-game 2025 slate features six NCAA Tournament teams from 2024: Denver, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, SMU, UC Davis, and Wake Forest, with Stanford currently sitting 2-0-0 against the group with victories over Denver and UC Davis. The upcoming schedule features just one matchup against an opponent ranked in the United Soccer Coaches poll, as Stanford will visit the No. 13 Demon Deacons on October 4.
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS » Free gear returns to Cagan Stadium on September 28, as early arrivers to Sunday’s match against Boston College can snag a free beanie courtesy of Stanford Athletics. The fun continues on October 11 with our Oktoberfest celebration against Pittsburgh, where fans can stick around postgame for a free autograph session with the team.