This past weekend No. 15 Stanford men’s soccer (0-1-3) made its first road trip of the season to Bloomington, Indiana, for the Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic, falling 2-1 in overtime to No. 4 Notre Dame (4-0) and playing to a 0-0 stalemate against No. 5 Indiana (3-0-1). All four of the Cardinal’s games this season have gone to overtime, and three have ended in a draw.
The Cardinal played tough throughout their matchup with the Irish, and they were able to strike first. Stanford’s only goal came in the 42nd minute when Drew Skundrich, the junior midfielder, scored from redshirt freshman Tanner Beason’s assist.
Stanford was down a man when sophomore defender Justin Kahl received his second yellow at 69.44, and while the Cardinal defense stood strong, a goal from the Irish slipped passed senior goalie Andrew Epstein in the 86th minute to tie the game.
Over the course of the game, Epstein tied a career high with 6 saves. In overtime, however, Notre Dame’s Brandon Aubrey slammed in a game-winning free kick from 30 yards, handing Stanford its first loss of the season.
“People don’t normally see the fine print, but I’m incredibly proud of how we played today and of the work we put into the game,” said Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn.
On Sunday, Stanford took on No. 5 Indiana. It was stalemate throughout as neither team was able to score. The Cardinal came close to a goal just once, but the header from Tomas Hilliard-Arce was deflected off the fingertips of Indiana goalkeeper Colin Webb. Still scoreless at the end of regulation, Stanford saw its fourth straight game go into overtime. Efforts proved futile for both teams, and the Cardinal closed out the Classic with a scoreless draw. It marked Epstein’s 15th career shutout.
Up next, Stanford will return home for a three-game stretch, first facing off against San Jose State on Sept.10. The matchup should prove interesting as Jeremy Gunn enters a coaching battle against his former head coach and mentor Simon Tobin. The Cardinal take on the Spartans Saturday at 7 p.m. at Cagan Stadium. The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Matthew Bernstein at mbernste ‘at’ stanford.edu.