11-16-2014, 03:11 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-16-2014, 04:26 PM by Viking_Guy.)
At the half, 2-1 good guys.
A really entertaining first half, especially for Stanford fans. There were streaks of pressure, but the Cardinal really dominated play for about the opening 20 minutes. They scored their first in the 13th minute, as Corey Baird worked a nice interchange that led to a close-in shot blocked by the keeper. The rebound however went across the face of goal, and Eric Verso ran on and punched it at goal. A defender tried to keep it out, but could only get a deflection that slowed but couldn't stop the ball.
Stanford had two more good looks to get a second, but around the 21st minute C.al got a good period of sustained possession, with lots of pressure in Stanford's end. They scored when Stefano Bonomo got free across the top of the penalty box, working from left to right then as he cleared a defender hammering the ball back to the left post. Epstein didn't even move; couldn't tell if he was screened by the defender that Bonomo stepped around, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Possession evened out a bit in the last 15 minutes, though Stanford still had the advantage, with Baird having a good look from about 8 yards blocked after an Edwards through ball clipped a C.al defender and settled perfectly for Corey. But the Cardinal moved back ahead off a set piece, something that's become a bit of a specialty. A foul out at the right top corner of the box that probably should've been a yellow card gave Stanford a free kick opportunity, and Ty Thompson floated a ball into the back post that Brian Nana-Sinkam made a brilliant jump on, getting high above his defender and the ball and hammering it down across goal into the right side netting.
All in all really entertaining. One note: C.al really misses their injured keeper Taillole, who got banged up last week. Their backup goalie, Alex Mangels, is okay, but he's spilling a lot of rebounds and has parried a couple of balls wide that were probably going out on their own. And he's cleared back passes directly to Stanford midfielders on a couple of occasions.
VG
A really entertaining first half, especially for Stanford fans. There were streaks of pressure, but the Cardinal really dominated play for about the opening 20 minutes. They scored their first in the 13th minute, as Corey Baird worked a nice interchange that led to a close-in shot blocked by the keeper. The rebound however went across the face of goal, and Eric Verso ran on and punched it at goal. A defender tried to keep it out, but could only get a deflection that slowed but couldn't stop the ball.
Stanford had two more good looks to get a second, but around the 21st minute C.al got a good period of sustained possession, with lots of pressure in Stanford's end. They scored when Stefano Bonomo got free across the top of the penalty box, working from left to right then as he cleared a defender hammering the ball back to the left post. Epstein didn't even move; couldn't tell if he was screened by the defender that Bonomo stepped around, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Possession evened out a bit in the last 15 minutes, though Stanford still had the advantage, with Baird having a good look from about 8 yards blocked after an Edwards through ball clipped a C.al defender and settled perfectly for Corey. But the Cardinal moved back ahead off a set piece, something that's become a bit of a specialty. A foul out at the right top corner of the box that probably should've been a yellow card gave Stanford a free kick opportunity, and Ty Thompson floated a ball into the back post that Brian Nana-Sinkam made a brilliant jump on, getting high above his defender and the ball and hammering it down across goal into the right side netting.
All in all really entertaining. One note: C.al really misses their injured keeper Taillole, who got banged up last week. Their backup goalie, Alex Mangels, is okay, but he's spilling a lot of rebounds and has parried a couple of balls wide that were probably going out on their own. And he's cleared back passes directly to Stanford midfielders on a couple of occasions.
VG