Referee Baldomero Toledo sent off Stanford’s junior outside back and captain Logan Panchot in the 72nd minute. At the time, the Cardinal were down a goal to the Beavers at home and looked to suffer their second consecutive defeat.
Instead, No. 2 Stanford (7-1-1, 1-1 Pac-12) was gifted a penalty kick 90 seconds later and pulled out a draw against Oregon State (5-4, 2-1 Pac-12) after double overtime. It was the second game in less than 72 hours that went into added time for the Cardinal — the first a crushing defeat to Washington.
Fifth-year center back Tanner Beason was injured in that game against the Huskies, and thus he was unable to play on Sunday. Not only did that injury cause changes to the lineup, but it also meant Stanford was without its usual penalty kick taker. It was up to senior midfielder Derek Waldeck to bury the opportunity.
“You plan ahead,” Stanford Head Coach Jeremy Gunn said. “We have a Plan A, a Plan B and we even have a Plan C. Tanner is the Plan A. We have someone else who is Plan B that wasn’t on the pitch, and so Derek knew that he was going to be taking it.”
Sophomore center back Ryan Ludwick made his first start of the season in the Sunday matinee to replace Beason, as did freshman defender Keegan Tingey and redshirt junior midfielder Marc Joshua.
“They’re tremendous,” Gunn said of his underclassmen. “It’s next man up. This is the sport. This is college soccer. You can sit and worry about who is not on the pitch or make sure the people who are on the pitch are doing their best and that’s what we did today.”
Stanford applied early pressure. In the ninth minute Joshua had his shot blocked, and soon after, Tingey’s shot was saved by the Huskies’ goalkeeper Adrian Fernandez. The Cardinal took nine of the first ten shots, but Stanford slowed down and did not record a single shot past the 27th minute in the first half.
Out of halftime, a poorly taken Waldeck free kick was sent back in by junior forward Charlie Wehan. Freshman center back Keegan Hughes put a header on frame in the 64th minute, which was saved. Soon after, redshirt sophomore forward Zach Ryan’s header was deflected over the top of the bar by Fernandez.
In the opposite direction, Oregon State scored against the run of play in the 68th minute. Forward Joel Walker netted his fifth of the season on just the third Beavers shot of the game. The assists were credited to Raheem Taylor-Parkes and Adrian Crespo.
When Panchot was sent off, Stanford transitioned to a back three. A lethargic game became very interesting in a hurry.
“We’re a man down and a goal down and displayed magnificent resolve to get back into it,” Gunn said. “We worked so hard behind the ball and then we had the best chance of the game to win and should have put it away.”
A string of cautions followed soon after, as the Beavers’ Loke Strenov was shown a yellow card for a challenge on junior forward Jack O’Brien. Immediately after, freshman forward Gabe Segal was taken down in the box by Steffan Yeates, who was booked. Waldeck calmly took the penalty kick, and left it in the back of the net.
Now tied 1-1, Gunn inserted redshirt sophomore Andrew Aprahamian — who had started every game to this point — at right back, as Stanford looked to see out the draw.
Stanford had a chance to claim a victory toward the end of regulation, but neither attempt went home. Waldeck sent in a cross that was flicked on by Hughes, but Aprahamian could not finish it in the 85th minute.
The Beavers also got one last look on goal in the 87th minute, but an excellent save by Oregon State’s redshirt sophomore goalkeeper denied Walker one-on-one.
In the final seconds of the first overtime, a throw-in from Aprahamian found sophomore forward Will Richmond, and a last touch by junior forward Arda Bulut looked to cross the end line. But the assistant referee did not signal a goal, so the game headed to a second ten. Later replay reviews seemed to indicate that the call by the referee was the correct one.
Oregon State had one last look on goal against the outmatched Cardinal, but a kick save from Hughes and a tip from Thomas cleared the chance over the bar. After two overtimes ran out, the score remained a 1-1 draw.
Next, Stanford will head south to UCLA for a Thursday matchup.
Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.