LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A dramatic late goal from Jayden Fitzgerald Boes lifted 12-seed Stanford to a 2-1 victory over fifth-seeded Louisville in Wednesday evening's first round matchup.Â
The victory moves Stanford (9-4-3) into the quarterfinals of the ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, earning a statement win over a Louisville side ranked eighth nationally.
"I felt we really grew into the game and I'm so proud of how our team kept our composure," said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer. "We kept probing for the win when lesser teams might have folded, and to seal the game in regulation with a fantastic strike was an emphatic finish to a game that had pretty much everything"
Louisville held the lion’s share of possession through the opening 15 minutes, but Stanford gradually settled in and began creating the more dangerous opportunities as the half progressed.
Fitzgerald Boes forced the first Louisville save in the 17th minute, getting on the end of a Groeneveld inswinger with a point-blank header. Joshua Partal followed with another shot on target in the 27th minute, making an immediate impact in his first appearance since Sept. 20.
The Cardinal threatened again in the 37th minute when a ball into the box found freshman Logan Tsopanoglou, whose attempt was cleared off the goal line by a Louisville defender.
Stanford finally broke through in the 43rd minute on its fourth shot on target of the half. Following a free-kick opportunity, Partal found Victor Fung with space inside the box, and Fung headed home the first goal of his career to give the Cardinal a 1-0 advantage.
Louisville nearly found an equalizer in the closing seconds, but Rowan Schnebly came up with a leaping punch to send the ball over the crossbar and preserve Stanford’s one-goal lead heading into halftime.
After a modest start to the second half, the Cardinal began creating several opportunities to extend its advantage. Louisville made it's second goal line clearance of the match in the 67th minute, preventing a Jack Pymm touch from going in.
The 79th minute featured two near-misses for the Cardinal as Stanford searched for an insurance goal. First, a Partal attack appeared to result in a handball inside the box but following a VAR review, the referee determined the Louisville defender's arm was within the silhouette of his body.
Just seconds later, a beautiful service from Pymm found Fitzgerald Boes at the back post but the forward was ruled offside before his header went into the net, leaving Stanford's one-goal advantage intact.
Weathering several Stanford chances, Louisville found its equalizer in the 87th minute, as Emil Thor headed home a corner-kick delivery from Giacomo Zizza.
The Cardinal maintained its compusure, however, and answered almost immediately. Just two minutes later, a perfect through ball from Trevor Islam found a striding Fitzgerald Boes, who buried a finish from the right side to restore Stanford's lead at 2-1 in the closing moments.
Louisville mounted one final threat, but Groeneveld came up with a crucial defensive intervention in front of goal, using his left foot to deny a clean look from Zizza and preserve the Cardinal victory.
The back-and-forth affair ended with both sides level at 12 shots apiece, with Stanford putting seven of its attacks on frame to Louisville's three. The Cardinals held a 7-2 edge on corner kicks over Stanford, while Schnebly finished the night with two saves.
"Thrilled to be able to come away with the win, and we're excited to return home and host Syracuse on Sunday," Gunn added.
Stanford will host the 13th-seed Orange on Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. on ACC Network. Tickets will be on sale tomorrow at 1 p.m. at tickets.gostanford.com.