No. 7 Stanford men’s soccer (7-1-2, 1-1-1 Pac-12) will head south this weekend for two Pac-12 matches against UCLA (5-4-1, 1-2-0 Pac-12) and San Diego State (3-5-1, 0-3-0 Pac-12). These games are key for the Cardinal because the team has not claimed a win in their last three games.
Stanford currently sits in third place of the six men’s soccer teams in the Pac-12 with four points. The Bruins and Aztecs have three and zero points, respectively. With two wins, the Cardinal have the potential to move up ahead of Oregon State into the second spot in the conference behind No. 2 Washington.
Stanford’s ability to obtain these wins will be made more difficult because they will face UCLA without junior midfielder, defender and captain Logan Panchot. Panchot was sent off in Stanford’s last game versus Oregon State with a red card after a hard tackle in the 72nd minute of play. In the midst of the chaos, senior midfielder Derek Waldeck, while wearing the captain’s armband, buried a penalty kick to tie the game and secure a point for the Cardinal in conference play. The red card disqualifies Panchot for Thursday’s matchup against the Bruins, but he will be eligible to play on Sunday in San Diego.
Stanford will also possibly play without redshirt senior defender and captain Tanner Beason, who was injured last Thursday in the loss to Washington. Beason never returned to the field and also did not play against Oregon State. His return for the next two games remains doubtful.
UCLA heads into the matchup having most recently beat San Diego State 5-2. The game featured a program-record five-goal surge from junior Milan Iloski. Iloski is now the national leader in goals and points, with 14 and 30, respectively.
After wrapping up in Los Angeles, the Cardinal will travel to San Diego to face the Aztecs, who have yet to earn a point in Pac-12 play. After enduring a three-goal deficit in their loss to UCLA, the Aztecs look to establish themselves with a win.
Stanford begins the road trip on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 8 p.m. at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles against UCLA. Sunday’s match at San Diego State’s Sports Desk begins at 12:00 p.m.
Contact Civana Kuhlmann at civana ‘at’ stanford.edu.