10-09-2016, 01:51 PM
Amidst the despair over the football team's month of October meltdown, and the women's soccer thrashing at the feet of USC, the men's team just completed a rare, if not unprecedented, 2-0 road trip to the northwest, thereby giving fresh hope in this fall rooting season.
On Thursday, Stanford beat UW in Seattle for the first time since 2006 in a game in which UW had somewhat the better of the play, but in which Stanford persevered and got fortunate with the carom after after a free kick that Amir Bashti found at his feet and put into goal.
Today they played OSU in a very entertaining game in which they displayed great energy and effort in getting after 50-50 balls and, equally importantly, strung together multiple sequences of passes like I'd not see previously this season. Heretofore, their style was part-frustrating, part-boring, as the defense tended to strike long balls repeatedly. (Reminded me of my youth soccer, when we'd yell at our unreliable fullback, "Just boot it, Kilfoyle!") Today, Stanford's repeated knocking on the door, including some very near misses, was requited in the 2nd OT when Tomas Hilliard-Arce, a master of the head ball, knocked in a goal off a perfectly placed corner kick. The blend of great effort, skill and creativity, and exiting chances made for a real fun game. Hope some of you had the opportunity to watch it.
This week upcoming are games at home v. UCLA -- always an epic battle -- and a resurgent San Diego State. Worth watching, if you can.
On Thursday, Stanford beat UW in Seattle for the first time since 2006 in a game in which UW had somewhat the better of the play, but in which Stanford persevered and got fortunate with the carom after after a free kick that Amir Bashti found at his feet and put into goal.
Today they played OSU in a very entertaining game in which they displayed great energy and effort in getting after 50-50 balls and, equally importantly, strung together multiple sequences of passes like I'd not see previously this season. Heretofore, their style was part-frustrating, part-boring, as the defense tended to strike long balls repeatedly. (Reminded me of my youth soccer, when we'd yell at our unreliable fullback, "Just boot it, Kilfoyle!") Today, Stanford's repeated knocking on the door, including some very near misses, was requited in the 2nd OT when Tomas Hilliard-Arce, a master of the head ball, knocked in a goal off a perfectly placed corner kick. The blend of great effort, skill and creativity, and exiting chances made for a real fun game. Hope some of you had the opportunity to watch it.
This week upcoming are games at home v. UCLA -- always an epic battle -- and a resurgent San Diego State. Worth watching, if you can.