For the Stanford soccer program, Friday night had an unmistakable sense of déjà vu.
Just 24 hours earlier, No. 14 Stanford women’s soccer (13-4-1, 5-4-1 ACC) fell in heartbreaking fashion to their cross-bay rivals, conceding the game-deciding penalty with just seconds left on the clock. On this particular evening, No. 22 Stanford men’s soccer (8-4-4, 3-2-3 ACC) found themselves with an all-too-similar fate in their regular season finale against Cal (6-7-2, 2-4-2 ACC).
After a physical battle that saw both teams deadlocked in back-and-forth possessions, it was the visiting Golden Bears that finally broke through. In the 81st minute, Stanford’s failed clearance eventually found Cal senior defender Kevin Carmichael, who buried the ball into the back of the Cardinal net.
“It was a really exciting game of soccer, and honestly, they just launched the ball at us throughout the entire game and it was just really difficult to deal with,” said head coach Jeremy Gunn.
“As a staff, I think we got our tactics completely wrong and we allowed them to keep launching the ball at us, so we’ll take responsibility for the game today.”
The loss marks a disappointing albeit fitting close to Stanford’s first season in the ACC. The Cardinal started the season winning eight out of their first ten games, but they’ve since gone over a month without a victory. Although injuries to key players have contributed, Gunn remains confident that the recent results do not reflect the actual quality of the team.
“We’ve played great throughout the season,” he said. “All that changed was that a couple of close games didn’t go our way … so there was not too much to overanalyze there.”
Gunn will hope that the Cardinal can turn their current form around soon, as the conclusion of the regular season means that the ACC tournament is scheduled to start in less than a week.
Unlike the women’s tournament, which only includes six teams, the men’s tournament brings together 15 to challenge for the conference title. This will be a new experience for Stanford, as the Pac-12 previously did not feature a conference tournament, instead crowning the champion based on the final regular season standings.
It’ll be an important opportunity for the Cardinal to readjust and retool before the ultimate prize: the College Cup.
“We’re in very, very tough competition, and there aren’t any easy games to be played in sight,” said Gunn. “We just have to get just a little bit fresher and a little bit sharper in a couple of departments.”
Stanford’s next outing will be on Wednesday, when they’ll host Notre Dame (7-4-5, 3-3-2 ACC) for the first round of the ACC tournament. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Cagan Stadium.