After a double overtime thriller, No. 10 Stanford men’s soccer (7-2-3, 4-1-0 Pac-12) defeated Washington (7-6-0, 2-3-0) 3-2. Throughout the game, the Cardinal were able to capitalize on set pieces, which in the end secured their victory. Sophomore Arda Bulut scored the winning goal, which was the first of his career.
The victory kept the Cardinal atop the Pac-12 rankings, where they are tied with UCLA (8-4-0, 4-1-0) at the halfway mark of the conference schedule. The Cardinal have now won their last three meetings against the Huskies in Seattle, for the first time since 2000-2002.
Stanford brought pressure early, and a shot from freshman forward Zach Ryan went wide in the first minute. Three minutes later, senior midfielder/forward Amir Bashti attempted a back-heeled flick, but it was saved off the line by the Huskies’ goalkeeper.
However, Washington took advantage of the missed shots and found the back of the net themselves in the 21st minute. Midfielder Dylan Teves scored from the box after a long pass and assist from sophomore defender Kasey French. This was Teves’ first goal of the season and first career goal.
Washington nearly scored twice more during the first half, but freshman goalkeeper Andrew Thomas and junior defender Tanner Beason stepped in. Thomas in the 32nd minute saved a one-on-one attempt from sophomore Blake Bodily, and with less than a minute before the half, Beason dove to block a shot from Tevas inside the box.
Back from halftime, the Cardinal quickly rebounded. After sophomore forward Charlie Wehan was fouled by UW to interrupt a long run, junior midfielder Derek Waldeck stepped up to that the free kick. He directed the ball to the back post where senior defender Collin Liberty headed it back to the face of the goal to connect with Ryan, who passed the ball cleanly into the goal. It was Ryan’s fifth goal of the season.
In the 78th minute, the Cardinal increased their lead off of another penalty after Washington defender Cole Grimsby took down sophomore forward Jack O’Brien on the right side of the box. Beason successfully took the penalty and lengthened the lead to 2-1.
But Stanford could not hold the lead for long. In the 87th minute, Liberty was whistled for pushing to the ground UW defender Quentin Pearson, setting up a penalty kick from Husky midfielder Corban Anderson — his first of the season.
For 20 minutes the tied score held, driving the game into double overtime. However, sophomore forward Arda Bulut stepped up, drawing a foul on Washington midfielder/defender Luke Hauswirth while battling for possession. Waldeck took the free kick and sent it into the box, where the Huskies headed it away, but the freshman midfielder/defender quickly tracked down the errant ball and chipped it in for Liberty. Liberty ran across the endline to keep the ball in play and passed it to Wehan, who sent a cross to O’Brien, who was waiting at the top of the box. The ball took a bounce as O’Brien passed it to Bulut, who sent the ball to the far post with his left foot, pushing the Cardinal to a victory.
For their next game, the Cardinal will return home to take on Oregon State. The game will be a rematch of a Oct. 11 loss to the Beavers in Corvallis.
Contact Cybele Zhang at cybelez ‘at’ stanford.edu.