STANFORD, Calif. - A dominant showing on both sides of the ball led No. 6 Stanford to a 3-0 shutout victory over Boston College on Sunday evening at Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal (9-1-1, 3-1-0 ACC) moved into second place in the conference table with the win, while Boston College fell to 5-5 on the season.
“Phenomenal performance from the team tonight,” said Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn. “I thought we came out with a wonderful intensity, and we were really turning the screws. I thought our attacking players were fantastic, and it was awesome to get the shutout as well. What a great performance all around.”
Stanford was creating chances from the opening whistle but was unable to to get one across the goal line after forcing five saves in the opening 45 minutes.
Fletcher Bank nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his shot dribbled past the Eagles’ goalkeeper before being cleared away by a defender. Later, Trevor Islam fired a strike toward the top-left corner, but Andrej Borak pushed it away at full extension to keep the match scoreless heading into the break.
The Cardinal's aggressiveness eventually translated to the scoreboard in the second frame, beginning in the 53rd minute when Joshua Partal delivered a brilliant ball to Palmer Bank at the back post, who finished it on first touch for the 1-0 lead.
Moments later, Islam battled through a foul from a Boston College defender and found Alex Chow in front of an open net, where Chow converted for the first goal of his Stanford career.
In the 65th minute, Islam capped his impressive night with a strike from 25 yards that tucked into the top-left corner for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. He became the third Cardinal player in as many games to record both a goal and an assist in a match, joining Zach Bohane and Shane De Flores.
Stanford’s defense locked down the rest of the way, holding the Eagles without a shot on target in the second half to secure the convincing clean sheet.
“I think the accumulation of pressure we applied was the difference for us tonight,” Gunn said. “We had good chances in the first half and just couldn’t quite find the final touch, but our players are so sharp and so strong that we started to get a little more separation as the game went along.”
Stanford finished the contest with season highs in both shots (24) and shots on goal (12), while also holding an 8-0 advantage on corner kicks. Rowan Schnebly recorded one save in the 13th solo shutout of his career.
The Cardinal now prepares for a big road test next weekend against No. 13 Wake Forest on Saturday, October 4 at 4 p.m. PT.