Recap: No. 4 Stanford Men’s Soccer gets clean sheet victory over UC Davis
On Sunday, No. 4 Stanford men’s soccer defeated UC Davis 1-0. Stanford freshman Jude Stone scored the first goal of his career at the 75:24 mark while goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly had three saves, doing a great job of keeping the ball out of the net to secure the shutout. Stanford improves to 4-0 on the season while UC Davis falls to 0-2-2.
BOX SCORE: UC Davis at Stanford-Sunday, August 31st
“It’s a tremendous victory,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “I’m just really pleased at the attitude and the performance by the team. You know, every game is going to be really tough. Sometimes there’ll be goals scored, sometimes they won’t but that’s a great team we played tonight and it was a tough tough tough battle and really pleased with the attitude.
“I thought it was just one of those games that’s super tight, difficult to create openings but I think both teams had openings. I’d truly have to look back and see just how many clear ones we had compared to them, but it’s a tight game, we’ve defended rock solid against a very tough team, we’ve managed to get the shut out which that’s another first and then of course a big first is Jude cutting his way through the defense to bury a chance.
“So yet another freshman with their first goal, it’s always exciting to see new things and just super happy for him. He’s been working really hard in the games and got a great reward there and I think everybody else around him really stayed disciplined tonight and I was really happy that it was it was a tough game that there was never a time where I saw frustration, never a time where I saw people thinking that the game is gonna be easy. It was a roll your sleeves up, look for the moments and I thought we created very good moments and you know we became very close a number of times but in the end it’s just one goal that decides the game.”
This match was an intense battle for the entire 90 minutes. In the first half, Stanford out-shot UC Davis 5-2 while having a 2-1 corner kick advantage. Stanford had a slight edge, but in truth both teams were locked up in a tight one. Tied 0-0 at halftime, it was clear that if a goal was going to be scored, one of the two teams would have to ratchet up the intensity on offense.
In the second half, both teams did just that as they each fired eight shots. UC Davis actually had more corner kicks in the second half with four to Stanford’s one corner kick. For much of the second half, UC Davis was putting more pressure on Stanford, giving themselves more opportunities to find the back of the net. Yet each time, Stanford’s defense held firm and found a way to keep UC Davis out of the net.
As for Stanford’s offense, they had a couple looks in the second half where it looked like they might finally score, but each time, UC Davis’ goalkeeper Mekhai Wilson found a way to find the ball, taking some risks by diving into harm’s way to get the ball. Entering the 70th minute of the match, one had to wonder if this match might end in a scoreless draw.
“I think just our togetherness and our will to win,” Stone said of how they weathered the storm. “We stayed together throughout the whole 90 minutes and everyone did their part. Yeah, we got the job done.”
To Stanford’s credit, they kept fighting and finally at 75:24, Stone found the bottom right of the goal off his left foot, squirting the ball through a few defenders from the top of the penalty box and into the back of the net. It looked like a bit of a lucky shot, but in moments like this, you’ll take a little luck. That gave Stanford a 1-0 lead.
“Yeah, we were kinda pinning the ball down in their half,” Stone said of his goal. “For a while there, putting the pressure on them, the ball kind of squirted out after we had a couple close chances and then just kind of found my way through a couple guys and then let it fly and it found the bottom right corner and we got to celebrate all together, so we had a great team goal…Just happy to help the team, like all these games during the season matters, so try to take every point that we can. We go one game at a time and happy to get the win tonight.”
“I just see a wonderful attitude,” Gunn said of Stone. “From when we recruited him, he wasn’t getting seen in the highest level all the time. So I personally didn’t get to see him quite as much, but he came to our camp and from the moment he came to the camp, it was wow, this guy has an incredible attitude. He’s absolutely the type of person that we want in the program and he’s the type of person that I am positive will absolutely thrive in our program. He’s got a wonderful attitude to everything. He’s a coach’s dream and he’s somebody that I’m sure will continue to learn, continue to develop, and become a great player in the program.”
From then on out, UC Davis applied even more pressure, getting corner kicks at 76:08 and 82:14 (2). They did not quit and forced Stanford to play the full 90 minutes if they were to get the win. In the end, Stanford would pull it out 1-0 as the lone goal by Stone was all that was needed. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but if you’re Stanford you’ll take it.
“I honestly think the whole defense played well,” Gunn affirmed. “Rowan makes a big save and had some good claims. I thought, Dlyan Groeneveld and Alfonso were monumental at center back. And then Palmer and Will Cleary had their hands full the whole night. You know, Davis would load four up on the back line. So they’re always putting you under pressure, always asking questions of you. Every defender on the pitch tonight, both teams will know they played tonight. They’ll know they played in the morning, for sure.
“And that’s what a soccer game should be about. I watch some soccer games where defenders can come off the pitch, not having broken a sweat and every defender had to perform tonight and that’s what the game should be about and that’s what made it such an exciting spectacle. That’s what made it a great game of soccer and really excited that we pull away with the victory.”
“Every day in practice, it’s where you prepare,” Schnebly said. “It’s where you practice, it’s where you get better, it’s where you get ready for moments out here like these. I think the back line has been unbelievable so far this season. You know, the depth on this team is unbelievable. We’ve got guys that aren’t playing as much that could be out there. And that they’re going to be waiting to get out there and they’re going to be out there soon. And so, I think the preparation is very important, we prepared well, we came out here with the right attitude and the right compete level and that ultimately helped us see out a shut out.”
For Stanford, the final week of August was intense. On Thursday, they came from down 0-1 to defeat Santa Clara on the road, scoring both goals in the second half. Stanford showed that they are a tough and resilient team that won’t go down without a fight. That’s something that should serve them well as the season goes on.
“No, it’s great,” Gunn said of having gritty performances. “Every year it’s a new blank slate and I love to celebrate firsts and like the game the other night was the first game that we’re behind and in trouble. And I really loved the response. I thought we were just a margin off on Thursday attitude-wise. Just a margin. It wasn’t awful, but I felt we could have been just a little bit sharper, and I think I was really pleased with how we’ve shown a great mentality. It was a tough game Thursday night and then another super tough game tonight where to me, we look together, we look like we were scrapping for every ball and we’re constantly trying to assert ourselves on the game rather than waiting to see what happens.”
“It was a very difficult week,” Schnebly admitted. “We knew that going into it. They are two very good soccer teams we’re playing and every time you step on the field, nothing is guaranteed. And so we knew that were going to have to put up a good fight. Santa Clara on Thursday was a tough one. We didn’t start the best, but we overcame that adversity, battled back hard and found the back of the net twice in the second half to secure that win. And then tonight, I mean, it was a tight game the entire time. You know, Jude had a very good individual moment putting the ball away and then the back line defensive unit, we did a really good job at securing out a clean sheet, first clean sheet of the season, which very exciting for us moving forward.”
Up next for Stanford is a road match at Louisville on Friday, September 5th. That will begin at 8:00 AM PT on ACCNX.
“Yeah, I think you have to be able to win these kind of games in order to have a great season,” Stone said of the week they had. “I think we’re a great team capable of doing a lot of good things. We just got to take it one game at a time and yeah, go from there.”
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