No. 3 men’s soccer (5-0, 0-0 Pac-12) hosted a shooting clinic on Sunday, taking 25 shots and allowing just one in a 3-0 win against American (0-5-1, 0-0 Patriot League). The Cardinal found the back of the net three times for the team’s third-straight shutout and best start in 17 years.
“Teams always have to concern themselves with how tough it is to break us down, but then they also have to deal with an [offensive] onslaught,” said head coach Jeremy Gunn.
Junior midfielder Logan Panchot led the shooting onslaught for the Cardinal, releasing a game-high six shots, half of which were on goal. The scoring card opened in the 22nd minute, with a brilliant header from freshman Ousseni Bouda. Senior midfielder Derek Waldeck sent the ball into the box and Bouda perfectly headed it past American’s leaping goalie, John Minho.
The goal was Bouda’s second of his career and first at Cagan Stadium. The true freshman contributed a total of five shots, including two within the frame.
Stanford landed 11 of its 25 shots on goal. By halftime, Stanford had shot eight times, while allowing just one shot. American’s only opportunity came 24 seconds into the game, and it was blocked. Sunday’s game lowered Stanford’s goals-against average to just 0.20 on the season.
“Some teams hang their hat on being really defense-minded, while other teams hang their hat on being attack-minded and sometimes fall short in the secondary category,” Gunn said. “What we’ve always tried to do here is balance what we do in a game. We want to play with a purpose.”
Stanford’s second goal came in the 55th minute off the foot of Waldeck. From the top of the box, senior midfielder Jared Gilbey threaded a pass to Waldeck, who punched his third-career goal at the right post. It was the first and only shot he took in the afternoon affair.
“Jared and Derek are the people who are in the engine room,” Gunn said. “We want all of their great soccer and all of their great passing, but at the end of the day it is about creating and scoring chances. We talked with them about taking all of their wonderful abilities and translating it onto the scoresheet. They were hungry to score and that’s [the] mentality we want to have.”
Freshman forward Gabe Segal headed home the final score of the day in the 82nd minute. Redshirt sophomore Kei Tomozawa provided the cross to the unmarked Segal, who netted his second goal of the season. Tomozawa was credited the assist, earning him his first career point. Both players came off the bench.
Stanford totaled 17 shots on goal in the final 45 minutes and split an even 10 corners between the first and second periods.
It was a quiet game for Cardinal goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who was not challenged with any shots on goal. Thomas played the opening 86 minutes before handing off the duties to redshirt freshman Matt Frank for the final minutes.
With Sunday’s win, Stanford improves to 5-0 on the season, its best start since winning the first seven games in 2002. The season continues on Friday with the conference opener against unranked Cal (3-1-1, 0-0 Pac-12) at 4:30 p.m in Berkeley.
Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas ‘at’ stanford.edu.