The past two years have been historic ones for Stanford men’s soccer. Last year, the team notched more than 10 wins for the first time since 2009 and earned the Pac-12 title for the first time since 2001.

This season, the team has shown a continuation of its success from 2014, winning the Pac-12 title once more, dominating the conference and earning a win in the NCAA Third Round, which the program hadn’t achieved under head coach Jeremy Gunn or since the early 2000s.

Saturday evening, the team has the opportunity to make a mark on the program’s history once more, when Stanford (16-2-2) takes on No. 1 Wake Forest (17-2-2) in Winston-Salem in the NCAA Quarterfinals. A win would advance the Cardinal to the College Cup, the final four of the NCAA Tournament, for the first time since 2002.

Stanford goes into the game having beaten its past two opponents — Santa Clara and Ohio State — by scores of 3-1. Both games featured particularly strong second halves, as the Cardinal scored all six of their goals of the tournament after halftime.

Someone different has stepped up in each postseason game to lead the Cardinal to victory: Against Santa Clara, freshman forward Amir Bashti scored a brace which, along with a goal off a free kick from senior co-captain and defender Brandon Vincent, erased Stanford’s early 1-0 deficit.

A week later, it would be U.S. Men’s National Team player and Pac-12 Player of the Year Jordan Morris, a junior forward, that would score the team’s first goal of the night as well as, after the game had been tied, the game-winner. Sophomore midfielder Corey Baird also scored to put the game out of reach with less than three minutes to play.

As Stanford enters Saturday’s game with two hard-fought but well-earned victories from the beginning of the tournament in tow, Wake Forest will likely be the toughest team it has faced all season, at least on paper. The Demon Deacons, ACC Champions, are the top team in the country as well as the top seed in the tournament. The team advanced to the quarterfinals with a pair of 1-0 wins over Charlotte and No. 14 Indiana.

Similar to Stanford, Wake Forest has lost or tied only four of its 20+ games. The team’s schedule includes wins over Santa Clara, Davidson and Louisville — common opponents it has had with Stanford, which also beat all those teams — as well as meetings with 11 ranked teams (including wins over then-No. 6 Akron, then-No. 2 North Carolina, and then-No. 4 Notre Dame). The Cardinal, in addition to having played several teams on the cusp of being ranked, have only faced off against five ranked teams this season, holding a 4-0-1 record against them.

The Demon Deacons have a plethora of offensive talent, with Jack Harrison and Jon Bakero leading the team with an astounding 8 goals apiece. Michael Gamble and Tane Gent have also contributed heavily to the Wake offense, each notching 6 goals, while Jacori Hayes has 5 of his own.

Wake scores an average of 2.24 goals per game — tied for sixth-best in the nation — and allows only .52 goals per match — fifth in the nation — while Stanford has a 1.85 goals per game average.

To counter Wake’s attack, Stanford will have to rely on its typically-sound backline of sophomore Drew Skundrich, sophomore Tomas Hilliard-Arce, junior Brian Nana-Sinkham and Vincent. The unit, along with junior goalie Andrew Epstein, has allowed only .70 goals per game, 11th-best in the nation.

If Wake’s offense is in full force, Stanford will likely have to offset it with its own attack, which has its own share of talent. For one, it boasts the only collegiate player that also plays for the U.S. Men’s National Team in Jordan Morris. The junior has missed five games due to national team duties, but in his last 11 game with the Cardinal has scored 9 goals and notched 3 assists. Overall, he has 10 goals in 15 games this season with Stanford.

Besides Morris, sophomore forward Foster Langsdorf has had a breakout season with 6 goals, second-most on the team. Vincent has come in clutch on penalty kicks and other set pieces, scoring 5 goals of his own and, along with Morris, has been named as a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to the best player in college soccer. The team also has seven other players who have scored at least one goal this season.

“We got a well rounded team full of very good players,” fifth-year senior Eric Verso said. “We’ve been able to do very well even when he [Morris] hasn’t been here but having him on the field, we just know that he’s able to give us those special moments that no one else in college soccer can give us.”

Despite appearing to be the underdog, the team is not intimidated by the top-ranked Demon Deacs.

“I think no matter who we play, no matter where we go we have our mentality and if we go out here and approach each game like we do every game, I think we’re gonna do great,” Morris said. “They are of course a great team but we’re not going to be scared, we’ll respect them…but just go over there confident.”

“Coach [Jeremy Gunn] always talks about that we’re fitter, we’re stronger, we’re sharper,” Verso said. “We’ve been building all season for this, geting better each game, and we’re not scared of any team, we’re not scared of Wake. We’re going to go in there and play our game.”

The teams will face off at Wake Forest on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on EPSN3/WatchESPN.

Contact Alexa Philippou at aphil723 ‘at’ stanford.edu.