Even with the NCAA tournament all but officially out of reach, Stanford men’s soccer will get to end its season with a meaningful game as they travel to Berkeley to face the rival Golden Bears today.
Their dreams were likely thwarted Thursday night with a 2-1 defeat, but not before Stanford challenged the heavily-favored Bruins to an exhilarating, double-overtime match in which the Cardinal controlled a significant portion of the game.
The Stanford men’s soccer team has proven that when push comes to shove, it can get things done. Faced with the despairing reality that a loss to UC-Santa Barbara would mean the end to their hopes for a postseason run in the NCAA tournament, the Cardinal fought until an overtime golden goal from senior Adam Jahn in the 96th minute proved the final source of salvation for a team in need of a win.
This Friday, the Stanford men’s soccer team will try their luck in the infamous Harder Stadium when they face off against the UC-Santa Barbara Guachos. Although the game seems to be an insignificant out-of-conference matchup, much more is at stake. If unranked Stanford can pull off a win against the Guachos, who are currently No. 25 in the NCAA rankings, they would be in a good position to make a run at the NCAA tournament.
In what amounted to a near carbon copy of last weekend’s result, Stanford’s men’s soccer team conceded a late goal to Washington and couldn’t find the equalizer in a somewhat sloppy and very physical 2-1 loss to the Huskies.
After two straight wins in Pac-12 play, including a resounding 2-0 victory over rival California last week, the men’s soccer team heads out on the road this weekend trying to maintain its momentum.
Stanford (5-5, 2-1 Pac-12) is third in the league standings at the moment but can move up this weekend with good results against Washington (7-3-2, 2-0-1) and Oregon State (6-4-1, 1-2).
Every sport’s rivalry game with California has a different edge to it. From the water polo teams to the field hockey squad, the Cardinal needs little reminding to get up for the game against the Golden Bears.
Redshirt freshman Eric Verso’s first career goal and a late add-on by sophomore Zach Batteer ended the Cardinal’s drought and breathed life into the young season as Stanford (4-5, 1-1 Pac-12) knocked off a sluggish San Diego State team Sunday afternoon.