Jordan Morris shines at Olympic Qualifiers

Junior forward Jordan Morris (left) has netted three goals in the past three games of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship. The U.S. U-23 team next plays the winner of Mexico-Honduras in the semifinal Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City. (DAVID BERNAL/isiphotos.com)
Junior forward Jordan Morris (left) has netted three goals in the past three games of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship. The U.S. U-23 team next plays the winner of Mexico-Honduras in the semifinal Saturday afternoon in Salt Lake City. (DAVID BERNAL/isiphotos.com)
By Alexa Philippou
Oct. 7, 2015, 12:18 a.m.

Over the past week, Jordan Morris has showed once again why he is one of the best college soccer players — if not the best — as well as one of the most promising talents in the country.

The Stanford junior has temporarily left The Farm so he can play in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship for the U.S. U-23 team, which will look to secure a spot in the 2016 Olympics next summer.

Morris has scored three goals in three games, tied for best on the team aside fellow forward Jerome Kiesewetter, and has scored six total for the U.S. U-23 team this year.

In the team’s first match against Canada, which took place last Thursday at Sporting Park in Kansas City, Morris put the U.S. on the board within the first minute of the match. Running down the right side, Kiesewetter crossed the ball to Morris, who had broken free of his defender and headed the ball past the keeper.

The Stanford and national team standout struck again in the 73rd minute, when midfielder Will Trapp seized the ball off of a pass from a Canadian player, and, seeing Morris book it downfield, sent an arching pass his way. Two defenders and the goalie, who had started to charge at Morris, couldn’t stop him as he netted his second goal of the game in the lower right corner.

The U.S. would go on to win the game 3-1, with its final goal coming in added time off of a penalty kick.

The team had another dominant performance against Cuba two days later, and while Morris did not score one of the team’s six goals, he assisted Kiesewetter’s first goal of the night in the 38th minute. Morris and Kiesewetter had a 2-on-1 opportunity with the keeper right in front of the goal, and Morris, who had the ball, drew the goalie to the right side. While he had a chance to net the ball, Morris instead passed to his open teammate, who scored the third goal of the night. The U.S. scored three more goals and left Kansas City having secured a 6-1 victory and a spot in the semifinal on Saturday.

The team traveled to Denver for its final match in group stage against Panama Tuesday night. Morris started on the bench in the first half along with other starters, but entered the game in the 46th minute. Ten minutes later, he received a cross from Kiesewetter and slipped the ball to the far bottom corner right past the goalie, putting Stanford up 3-0 with a little less than half the game to play. The squad would score one more goal that night, off a penalty shot from Luis Gil.

Morris leads the Stanford men’s soccer team with four goals so far this season, even though he has missed two games due to commitments with U.S. soccer. He plans to return to playing for his college team after the qualifiers are done in about a week. He also gained national attention in April, when he started and scored in the U.S Men’s National Team’s friendly against Mexico. He has earned six caps overall with the senior team.

As the only undefeated team in Group A, with no other team having notched even two wins, the U.S. emerged as the top seed of the group and will face the winner of Wednesday’s Mexico-Honduras matchup in what will be the first of the Olympic Qualifying semifinal matches.

The game will take place Saturday at noon in Salt Lake City and will be televised on Telemundo.

Contact Alexa Philippou at aphil723 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Alexa Philippou '18 is a political science major and a former Managing Editor of The Daily's sports section. She switched from the sports section to news her junior year, where she has worked on the university/local beat since. Being from Baltimore, she is a die-hard Ravens and Orioles fan who cried when the Ravens won the Super Bowl. To contact Alexa, please email her at aphil723 'at' stanford.edu.

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