SAN JOSE, Calif. — Logan Tsopanoglou netted his team-leading fourth goal of the season to lift No. 1 Stanford to a decisive 1-0 road victory over San Jose State on Friday evening.
The Cardinal (5-0-0) remains undefeated following a rock-solid defensive performance that limited the Spartans to just one shot in the contest. Stanford moves to 29-13-8 all-time in the series with its Bay Area foe.
"Just pleased with a good, solid performance tonight," said Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "We had a few chances in the first half that I thought we could've scored goals from, but we passed and moved the ball quite well. I was really pleased with how hard we worked at the back, as well as the attacking players to really help protect."
The deciding moment came in the 36th minute off a free kick, as Joshua Partal's service found Dylan Groeneveld in the goal area, where his header to the front of the net set up Tsopanoglou to finish from inside the six-yard box.
The goal came moments after another threatening attack from Tsopanoglou in the 30th minute, as his left-footed strike at the near post forced a diving save from the Spartan netminder. Stanford entered the locker room with its first halftime lead of the season, outpacing San Jose State 8-1 in shots.
It was more of the same from the Cardinal in the final 45 minutes, as Stanford put another four shots on frame in search of an insurance goal without facing another shot from San Jose State for the remainder of the contest.
Yujin Kikuchi nearly found the netting in the 51st minute to double the Cardinal advantage, but his one-timer from the top of the box narrowly sailed over the crossbar. Alex Chow and Eric Frintu each added dangerous attacks on frame later in the half, but both chances were snuffed out at the left post by the Spartan netminder.
The Cardinal backline fended off any late Spartan runs the rest of the way, sealing its fifth consecutive victory and the program's best start to a season since the 2020 campaign, when the Cardinal won its opening six contests.
Stanford continues its season on Monday, Sept. 7, returning to The Farm to host CSUN at 4 p.m. PT at Cagan Stadium. Tickets for Monday's match are available here.