Things were looking bleak for the Cardinal men’s soccer team (4-5-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) halfway through the first half after No. 15 Oregon State (7-1-2, 3-0-1 Pac-12) took a 2-0 lead off of a penalty kick. Stanford battled back though, earning a 2-2 draw against the Beavers thanks to goals from redshirt sophomore forward Carlo Agostinelli and junior forward Gabe Segal.
The visitors started with a bang. Oregon State redshirt senior midfielder Tyrone Mondi flicked the ball into the box towards the direction of graduate student forward Adrian Molina-Diaz, who swiftly found the back of the net in the third minute.
Twelve minutes later, Stanford redshirt senior forward Zach Ryan scored a goal, but it was called back for offsides, denying the Cardinal a chance to level the score.
In the 23rd minute, junior defender Keegan Hughes got whistled for a handball in the box and subsequently received a yellow card. Oregon State junior midfielder Sofiane Djeffal stepped forward to take the penalty kick, blasting the ball into the left side of the net. The Beavers had gone up 2-0.
Facing a top-15 team, Stanford could have folded then and there, but the Cardinal recovered and controlled the run of the play for the rest of the half. Agostinelli provided the path back into the match in the 34th minute. Ryan intercepted an errant pass in the midfield and played the ball to junior defender Keegan Tingey. Tingey then picked out Agostinelli in the box, where the London native would head the ball home. It was Agostinelli’s first career college goal.
Stanford scored again just two minutes later. Segal fired a shot at Oregon State’s junior goalkeeper Adrian Fernandez, but Fernandez pushed the ball into the side of the net. The score was level and redshirt sophomore midfielder Mark Fisher was credited with the assist.
Neither team would score again. By halftime, Stanford had outshot the Beavers six to five.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair. Junior forward Ousseni Bouda had the best chance of the period, a fierce shot from distance that forced a great save out of Fernandez. In the 80th minute, the Cardinal had a credible handball claim; the ball appeared to hit an Oregon State defender’s hand in the middle of play, but the possible error went unnoticed by the referee, so play continued.
The biggest moment of the second half was junior midfielder Cam Cilley’s second yellow card, which he received in the 87th minute. With just 10 players on the field for the rest of regulation — and eventually two overtime periods — Stanford had to play more defensively.
Both overtime periods were much like the second half, with both teams enjoying possession, but Oregon State getting more of it due to their one-man advantage. The Cardinal outshot the Beavers 15-10, but Stanford’s struggle to capitalize on its opportunities resulted in the score still being tied 2-2 at the final buzzer. Nevertheless, it was a good result for Stanford against a ranked opponent.
Next up on the schedule is a trip to Colorado to take on Denver next Saturday at 3 p.m. PT.