I attended the first half of the UCSB-Stanford men's soccer game last Friday. The game started more than 30 minutes late, due to the fact that the UCSB women's game versus SJSU went 2 OTs. So the first half ended around 9 pm, which was well beyond the regular bedtime for my 8 year-old son.
Stanford was the aggressor for the first 20 minutes or so--they won a lot of 50-50 balls--and had some solid scoring opportunities that were turned away by UCSB's freshman goalkeeper, who happens to also be the coach's son. Stanford subbed for Jordan Morris around the 30th minute, and, maybe it's just a coincidence, but UCSB started to create more opportunities for themselves. Towards the end of the first half, a UCSB midfielder won a ball around the halfway line and sprinted down the right side. He got off a cross that glanced off the Stanford defender's back and sailed towards Nick DePuy, last year's Big West Player of the Year. DePuy, who stands 6' 4",was way too much for his defender to handle and he headed the ball past the Stanford goalie.
That was the only real scoring threat from UCSB, but it was enough. Stanford had plenty of scoring opportunities, but could not get the ball into the net. Morris came back in the second half, which I listened to on the radio. The UCSB announcers were saying that Morris looked like he was favoring one of his hamstrings, but it could have been cramping because it was an unusually warm Santa Barbara evening. A buddy of mine who stayed for the second half said that play was very uneven and very chippy (UCSB had four yellows in the second half alone). Stanford was upset at what looked like excessive stalling tactics on the part of UCSB, and the fact that the UCSB goalie received a yellow card for delay lends some credence to those complaints.
All in all, UCSB did a great job marking Morris, whether he was gimpy or not. UCSB's goalie, aside from the yellow card, was very solid. In fact he was called up to the national U-20 team.
So while it was very disappointing that Stanford lost, it's worth noting that UCSB is a tough team to beat, especially at home. Even though fall classes don't start at UCSB until the end of the month, there were over 3000 fans in the stands, which is pretty impressive for a college soccer match. For comparison, the capacity for Stanford's Cagan Stadium is just under 3000.
The sting from Friday's loss was mitigated by Stanford's impressive win over a ranked Louisville squad, again on the road. I'm still optimistic that the Stanford men will make a run at UCLA in the Pac-12 and do well in the NCAA tournament.
Stanford was the aggressor for the first 20 minutes or so--they won a lot of 50-50 balls--and had some solid scoring opportunities that were turned away by UCSB's freshman goalkeeper, who happens to also be the coach's son. Stanford subbed for Jordan Morris around the 30th minute, and, maybe it's just a coincidence, but UCSB started to create more opportunities for themselves. Towards the end of the first half, a UCSB midfielder won a ball around the halfway line and sprinted down the right side. He got off a cross that glanced off the Stanford defender's back and sailed towards Nick DePuy, last year's Big West Player of the Year. DePuy, who stands 6' 4",was way too much for his defender to handle and he headed the ball past the Stanford goalie.
That was the only real scoring threat from UCSB, but it was enough. Stanford had plenty of scoring opportunities, but could not get the ball into the net. Morris came back in the second half, which I listened to on the radio. The UCSB announcers were saying that Morris looked like he was favoring one of his hamstrings, but it could have been cramping because it was an unusually warm Santa Barbara evening. A buddy of mine who stayed for the second half said that play was very uneven and very chippy (UCSB had four yellows in the second half alone). Stanford was upset at what looked like excessive stalling tactics on the part of UCSB, and the fact that the UCSB goalie received a yellow card for delay lends some credence to those complaints.
All in all, UCSB did a great job marking Morris, whether he was gimpy or not. UCSB's goalie, aside from the yellow card, was very solid. In fact he was called up to the national U-20 team.
So while it was very disappointing that Stanford lost, it's worth noting that UCSB is a tough team to beat, especially at home. Even though fall classes don't start at UCSB until the end of the month, there were over 3000 fans in the stands, which is pretty impressive for a college soccer match. For comparison, the capacity for Stanford's Cagan Stadium is just under 3000.
The sting from Friday's loss was mitigated by Stanford's impressive win over a ranked Louisville squad, again on the road. I'm still optimistic that the Stanford men will make a run at UCLA in the Pac-12 and do well in the NCAA tournament.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)