STANFORD, Calif. – San Francisco City Football Club, a non-profit, supporter-owned club competing in the US Club Soccer NorCal Premier League, was added to the Stanford men’s soccer spring schedule and will be on campus as part of a doubleheader on Sunday, May 3. The Cardinal will take on SF City FC at Ueland Field at 4 p.m. before heading over to Steuber Rugby Stadium to meet with UC Davis under the lights at 7 p.m.
“SF City FC provides us an awesome opportunity and is a great addition to our schedule,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said. “It’ll be fun to see a number of our distinguished alums. They’re tremendous guys who put an awful lot into the program.”
The addition of SF City FC, which features four former Cardinal in Taylor Amman, Eric Anderson, Drew Hutchins and Tom Montgomery, will allow a deep and strong Stanford team to give all of its players significant minutes as its spring schedule winds down.
The Cardinal will likely split its squad on Sunday evening between the two matches, providing all of its players the opportunity to go a full 90.
“It’s great for people to play in a game, work through being tired and push themselves at difficult times rather than have the luxury of being subbed on and off,” Gunn added. “If people are having a tough time they have to work their way through it or if they’re struggling they have to keep pushing.”
Stanford did the same last Saturday, sweeping that doubleheader with a 1-0 victory over CSUN followed by a 3-1 takedown of Sonoma State.
For the second time this spring, defender Tomas Hilliard-Arce got his head on a game winner for the Cardinal, this one on a service from Brandon Vincent against the Matadors. He did the same thing a week before on an assist from Drew Skundrich to defeat Santa Clara, 1-0.
The Cardinal put forth a complete performance in its win over CSUN, displaying the fluidity that has become its hallmark under Gunn coupled with aggressive defense to limit its opponent’s time on the ball.
“We passed and moved the ball well and created lots of great chances,” Gunn said. “If it was a day when everything was hitting the back of the net we could have scored five goals in the first half. In soccer you create chances and you miss chances – that’s part of the game. Defensively we were solid and attacking-wise we had some of the most wonderful, flowing soccer you could look for.”
In the second game against Sonoma State, many of the Cardinal’s redshirts and rising sophomores handled the action along with a few familiar faces. Austin Meyer, Zach Batteer and Bobby Edwards returned for some time with their former team. Meyer and Batteer scored, along with sophomore Trevor Hyman, to propel the Cardinal to a dominant second half and 3-1 win.
“Against Sonoma State we brought back three of our seniors who are still eligible to play,” Gunn commented. “It’s just wonderful to give them a little bit more soccer with the team. They were excited to come back and it was fun for them to join in with the younger guys.”
Sonoma State created a goal in the first half out of nothing, putting home an acrobatic, turning shot. The back-and-forth period preceded a dominant final 45 for the Cardinal and some valuable minutes for some of Stanford’s less experienced players.
“We wanted to take the players off the leash,” Gunn said of his halftime message. “Some were playing within themselves and trying to tread carefully. We told them you have to be assertive and take the game to your opponent. We really upped the tempo of the game in the second half and continued sustained pressure. It was nice two of the seniors to get goals to brag about, but more importantly for us it was good to see the young freshmen who either had minimal minutes or redshirts. It provided a great run for a lot of the guys who we’re wanting to give as much experience as possible and they took advantage of it.”
All of Stanford’s home spring matches are free and open to the public. Following Sunday’s games, the Cardinal closes out its training period by playing at the San Jose Earthquakes’ newly formed PDL affiliate, the Burlingame Dragons, on Saturday, May 9 at 7 p.m. That match will take place at Burlingame High School.