On Saturday, Stanford men’s soccer defeated Cal Poly 1-0 to win their third and final exhibition before regular season play begins. Stanford went 3-0 in their exhibitions, entering the regular season with some momentum. Against the Mustangs, Shane de Flores was the one who scored for the Cardinal at the 48:51 mark, getting his third goal of the exhibition season.
On Saturday, Stanford men’s soccer defeated Cal Poly 1-0 to win their third and final exhibition before regular season play begins. Stanford went 3-0 in their exhibitions, entering the regular season with some momentum. Against the Mustangs, Shane de Flores was the one who scored for the Cardinal at the 48:51 mark, getting his third goal of the exhibition season.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Cal Poly-Saturday, August 16th
“That was a really tough today and obviously worked with Oige for so many years and he’s a fantastic coach and they have a really strong team,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “And so, it was exactly the type of game in the first half that we expected. It was going to be really tough to find moments. It was going to be really difficult to be composed on the ball. And so the first half was two teams canceling each other out quite a lot, both being very very solid. And then the second half just truly impressed with how our team played. Just from the very beginning of the second half, we managed to open up the game a little bit with just a little bit more composure. A few more passes and a little bit more pressure, asking questions of our opponent.
“And so, after first halves like that, you could end up with exactly the same thing for the whole game because players can get frustrated and struggle. And I was just really impressed with the team how we managed to just managed to just get on top. It wasn’t like marauding, but it was just yep, we’re in control of the game now. And I felt that once we scored the goal as well, we continued to just keep ahead, you know.
“Obviously against good teams, the game can go back and forward, back and forward, but just very impressed with the second half performance where we just managed to get on top, stay on top, and keep ourselves in a good position where in true fairness to the game, we look like we could score a second goal and so that was positive in a tight game.”
Even though it was a 1-0 match, Stanford dominated Cal Poly on the stat sheet, out shooting them 12-1 and having a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks. Ideally, Stanford would have tacked on a second goal, but when you play the kind of defense that Stanford was playing and not allowing Cal Poly to get very many scoring chances, typically one goal is all you need.
“Yeah, huge win for the guys,” de Flores said. “Cal Poly, great team. They got the best of us in the spring, so we had a chip on our shoulder and the key to this game was just about mentality and I thought we went into the game with a great mindset and ended up pulling off the victory. So we’re very happy.”
To expand a bit more on de Flores’ goal, Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas had a header get deflected by Cal Poly goalkeeper Nicky McCune only for de Flores to be there on the cleanup, finding the top right of the goal off his right foot. It was a bit of a flukey play, but goals are often scored in such manners and de Flores did a good job of capitalizing on the opportunity.
“Yeah again, great job from the guys,” de Flores said of his goal. “Great service and off the free kick. Fonz did a great job to win his battle, get a head on it, put it on frame, and then was just there in the right place, tap it in for a goal. Very happy to celebrate with the guys in the corner.”
“Oh, he’s just playing higher and he’s getting closer to goal and he’s doing what we need him to do and we’ve talked about it as strikers, we’ve got to get them in and around the goal and so when he’s scoring goals from close range, that’s exactly what we want,” Gunn said of de Flores. “So fantastic work and I thought he had a really good game tonight and he should be hopefully brimming with confidence as we go into the season and get started for real on Thursday.”
Rowan Schnebly manned the fort in the net for the Cardinal, playing 70:16 at goalkeeper while getting one save. Jordan Victor (5:59) and Laszlo Bollyky (13:45) played the rest of the way. Across the board, Gunn is feeling confident in how things are looking at that position with Schnebly having more experience.
“I think it all started with our keepers,” de Flores said of the key to the shutout. “Rowan did a great job organizing, communicating. Jordan and Laz came on, shut the game out well. I just thought we’ve been practicing that all summer, so it was good to see the defensive unit come to life. And yeah, I just thought it was just like an overall great performance.”
“More experienced again, and so you know, he’s had some solid performances so far,” Gunn said of Schnebly. “You know, in fairness, the team’s played so well he’s not had to make too many big saves. I think probably the most important save tonight was actually by Jordan when, you know, the corner was underneath the crossbar. And so, I think Rowan’s been looking solid and then I think all of the goalkeepers have played really well so far.
“And so, when you think of the end of the preseason, I think that the great account from having been a part of preseason and the three games is that more people are pushing for opportunity rather than less, which is a great positive thing. You know, everybody’s been chipping in in really positive ways and showing that they’re hungry to play minutes.”
With the exhibition portion of the season behind them, Stanford can now look ahead to the regular season, which will begin on Thursday, August 21st at home against Sacramento State. Kickoff time is set for 3:00 PM PT on ACC Network. That will be part of a doubleheader with women’s soccer, who will welcome San Diego State to The Farm at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Just excited,” Gunn said looking ahead to the opener. “I think it’s been great watching the exhibition games and the team’s been working really hard. We get a day off tomorrow having finished the preseason and then we start looking forward to it. And so, can’t wait to get going and hopefully you know, even though it’s a daytime on a Thursday, hopefully we can get some people out here and get everybody entertained with a continuously growing team where we’re figuring more and more out every time and hopefully we’ll continue to gel more and more as we go.”
“Yeah, it’s an amazing feeling,” de Flores said of winning all three exhibitions. “It’s just a testament to all the hard work we’ve put in this offseason and this preseason. So, it’s good to get some new guys on the field, get them comfortable, and kind of get all the pieces together. Get everything clicking. So it’s nice to head into the season with three wins and hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
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Category: General Sports
