April 20, 2011
Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford men's soccer season is off to a good start to the spring season with a win over San Jose State and a narrow defeat to the San Jose Earthquakes.
The team kicked off it's spring season with a 2-1 win versus San Jose State. It was Stanford's first game since losing to California in the 2010 Pac-10 season finale, last November 11. San Jose State entered the match undefeated this spring with wins over USF and Cal and a draw against St. Mary's.
Stanford began the scoring in the 28th minute with a quick combination between JJ Koval and Adam Jahn, resulting in a through ball. Garrett Gunther calmly received the through ball and dribbled past the Spartan's last defender and goalkeeper to pass the ball into an open net. In the 84th minute, Alexander Binnie was taken down in the box after a 1 v 1 situation. Binnie calmly stepped up and converted the penalty kick.
Two minutes later, San Jose State earned a penalty kick, scoring their lone goal of the night.
"We were organized in our approach to the game and the difficult offseason of early morning strength and conditioning paid off with its first win of the 2011 spring campaign," said assistant coach Gregg Olson.
The game also marked the first minutes in a Stanford uniform for freshmen Jack Ryan, Austin Meyer and Adrian Berg.
More recently, the Cardinal took on the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.
The Earthquakes came out hard after a tough defeat to New York York Red Bulls (3-0) and controlled play early with some staunch defense. MLS stars, Jesus Padilla, Chris Leitch, Scott Sealy, and Bobby Burling where in the starting lineup for the Earthquakes and made their presence known.
The Earthquakes had the majority of possession in the first half forcing freshman goalkeeper Drew Hutchins into some tough saves.
Ten minutes into the second half, the Earthquakes converted on a Stanford miscue in the back to go up 1-0.
After the goal, Stanford created two of its own goal scoring opportunities. The first by Alexander Binnie who missed just wide off of a Eric Anderson cross. Later, Adam Jahn found himself 1 v 1 with the keeper who made a great save to keep it 1-0.
The Cardinal played much better in the second half as the tempo changed to a back-and-forth game with Jason Dodson keeping the score at 1-0 with some big saves. In the end, the game finished 1-0, a good result versus a professional team.
"There are things to work on but overall it was a performance that we can build on," said assistant coach Mike Graczyk. "We are very thankful to the Earthquakes for taking the time to come up and place us and to the fans who came out to support us."
The Cardinal will next travel to Cal Poly to take on the Mustangs on Saturday, April 23, at 7 p.m.