Recap: No. 8 Stanford Men’s Soccer powers past Saint Mary’s
On Tuesday, No. 8 Stanford men’s soccer defeated Saint Mary’s 3-1. Stanford redshirt junior center back Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas scored two goals for the Cardinal (28:50 & 71:56) while redshirt sophomore midfielder Trevor Islam (67:45) found the back of the net as well. The lone goal for Saint Mary’s was scored by senior midfielder Bastian Toelhoej (17:38). Stanford improves to 5-1 overall (0-1 ACC) while Saint Mary’s falls to 0-3-2.
BOX SCORE: Saint Mary’s at Stanford-Tuesday, September 9th
“It’s another great result and another great performance,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “I think we came out in the beginning of the game with the right intensity. We had some great chances at the very get go and then they score against a run of play and that can happen. We don’t want it to. It’s a gut check. It’s frustrating. It happened in the last game and it just happened in this game. But we stayed composed and we believe in what we are doing and I think throughout the game we continued to pose questions, we continued to have fantastic chances and again, you know, the goals are always going to come when you create that many chances. And so, it took Fonzie to step up with a couple of great finishes and then, another great finish from Trevor.
“So, overall, you know, no complaints on the night. I think it’s, you know, it changes the game, the red card, but we were always on top but they are a very dangerous team on set pieces and counter attacks, and so it was difficult, but we pushed through and as the game went on, you know, we’re always looking like we’re gonna score more goals.”
Stanford was aggressive early, getting corner kicks at 2:34 and 12:19. Neither led to goals, but they were doing a nice job of setting the tone. Saint Mary’s had a corner kick at 10:12, doing a nice job of getting things going on their end as well. After a throw in at 16:46, Saint Mary’s would find the back of the net at 17:38 as Toelhoej found the bottom left of the goal off his right foot. That made it a 1-0 lead for the Gaels.
The Gaels then had corner kicks at 22:10 and 27:03, continuing to apply pressure on the Cardinal. Stanford would flip the script at 28:46 as Tenconi-Gradillas found the bottom left of the goal off his right foot off an assist from Joshua Partal and Will Cleary. That made it 1-1.
Saint Mary’s responded with a corner kick at 29:34 and then at 31:51, Fynn Allmon committed a red card for the Gaels, causing him to get tossed from the match. Both teams would swap corner kicks (Stanford at 32:52 & Saint Mary’s at 35:20), but neither team would score the rest of the half, keeping it tied up 1-1.
In the second half, Stanford got corner kicks early at 51:54 and 57:20, doing a nice job of getting some momentum going. Stanford then had a corner kick at 65:41, continuing to apply the pressure. At 67:46, Islam found the bottom left of the goal off his left foot as Shane de Flores got the assist. That made it a 2-1 lead for Stanford.
“Oh, I mean, he’s amazing,” Tenconi-Gradillas said of Islam. “He’s got so much energy up there. I would hate to play against him if I was a center back for the other team. He’s just got so much energy, he makes it so complicated for the defenders, I mean the goal today is a testament to his hard work, winning that fight in behind against the center back, getting it around the keeper, and I’m so happy for him to be helping the team in that way. He comes on and it’s just awesome. Awesome to watch him play.”
Stanford then got two more quick corner kicks at 70:54 and 71:49 before scoring at 71:56 as Tenconi-Gradillas found the top right of the goal off an assist from Zach Bohane. Another nice set piece goal for the center back. Stanford now led 3-1.
“I don’t know, I guess it was bound to come eventually,” Tenconi-Gradillas said of his goals. “I just sort of managed to get my head on the ball, get free, and the deliveries were really good today. This specifically today, it was a good performance from the servers and yeah, just happy to get on the scoresheet.”
Saint Mary’s would get a couple of corner kicks at 72:48 and 74:17, unable to score off either chance. Stanford would get a corner kick at 75:23, also unable to extend their lead. In the end, 3-1 would be the final score as Stanford got a two goal victory.
For Stanford, this was a nice win. They got down early but didn’t let that early goal they allowed prevent them from pulling out in the end. They kept fighting and trusted in their system to deliver over the course of 90 minutes.
“I think, you know, for starters, these goals are happening in games where we’re still playing well,” Gunn said of their early deficit. “So it’s not like we’re getting hit on the ropes and getting stuck. Goals have gone in against a run of play at times or at least when we’re very much in a good position. So the game hasn’t had to change too much. It just becomes more difficult being a goal down and sometimes a team will get tight. So, I don’t think the soccer has had to change too much, but the great mentality has been that okay, let’s stay calm, let’s keep believing in what we’re doing, we’re playing well, the goals will absolutely come.”
“Yeah, I guess just trusting our preparation,” Tenconi-Gradillas added. “Trusting our methods. The team knows that we have goals in us. And we can dominate teams both if we have to score off open play and we have to score off set pieces. We knew set pieces today were going to be a big one to win against Saint Mary’s and I’m glad we won that battle. But yeah, we have a motto of keep fighting in this team, so we just did, we did that.”
Touching more on Tenconi-Gradillas, he made the move from forward to center back during the spring. Ironically, it’s freed him up to score more goals than he did last year as he’s getting a chance to make plays off set pieces. So far, that move seems to be paying off.
“Oh look, he’s been absolutely amazing all season,” Gunn said of Tenconi-Gradillas. “You know, he was a striker the last few years here and sometimes the goal was looking small for him and when we moved him in the spring to center back, my comment was hey, I guarantee you’ll score goals off set pieces. Because you won’t be worrying about it, you know? But he’s playing incredibly well this season, he’s doing everything right, and he’s been an absolute rock back there. And so, tonight he’s done his job defensively and he’s also chipped in with two great goals.”
“I know, I know. He made a joke about how it could be likely that I score more goals at defender than at striker this year,” Tenconi-Gradillas quipped. “So it’s already, I think it’s already happened. I’ve already scored more goals this year than I have in my whole career at Stanford. So yeah, super happy to help the team in any way I can. And the skills are there. The skills for scoring goals are there. So, I’m glad they came out tonight…Just knowing the roles [on then set pieces]. Everyone’s got a specific job to do and everyone has to take accountability to doing those jobs.
“Obviously it’s, I mean you can paint it out simply as you need someone to put a good ball in the delivery area and then you need people who want to head the ball. And so, that’s what we’re training, people are hungry to score, people hungry to get on the end of things. And so, I guess that’s what’s been working for us.”
Up next for Stanford is a road match at Syracuse on Saturday, September 13th. That will begin at 4:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
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