Sept. 10, 2015
Stanford, Calif. â€" The San José State men's soccer team withstood nearly everything the 13th ranked Stanford Cardinal could throw at them on Thursday night in Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, but a single shot was the difference in a 1-0 decision.
The Cardinal (4-1-0) outshot SJSU 22-to-7 but had just a 3-to-2 advantage in shots on goal. While both San José State's shots on frame were stopped, a Foster Langsdorf strike in the 33rd minute proved to be the difference in favor of Stanford on the Maloney Field turf.
The Spartans (1-2-0) had two quality scoring chances in the opening half. The first came in the 29th minute when Jonathan Colunga found Rory Knibbs on the right side of the 18. Knibbs drove into the box and appeared to be dragged down by a Stanford defender, but the officials saw it differently and rather the awarding the Spartans a penalty kick he let the play continue.
A little over five minutes later Zach Penner played a pretty give-and-go on the right side of the box with Knibbs. Penner played a ball directly across the Stanford line. Jonathan Partida had a shot right in front of Cardinal keeper Andrew Epstein. Epstein (4-1-0) deflected the ball on and just out of the reach of a sliding Uriel Ayala who if he could have connected would have tucked in inside the post.
Between the Spartans' chances, Stanford's Corey Baird pounced on a San José State turnover at midfield, connected with Langsdorf who shot high to the far post from the right side for what turned out to be the game winner.
In the second half SJSU attempted three shots. A pair, one from Colunga and the other from Alex Alcaraz, came in the opening two minutes. The team's best chance of the second half came at the 84:01 mark. With possession at the top of the 18, Knibbs dribbled the ball between his right and left foot and finally back to his right to shake off a pair of defenders. He fired a shot just over the crossbar, which turned out to be the Spartans last gasp.
For the game Knibbs and Colunga led the team with two shots each. Alcaraz, Penner and Partida got off one shot each. In goal, keeper Emmanuel Espinoza (1-2-0) made two saves.
The Cardinal offense was led by four shots from Jordan Morris and Langsdorf produced three. Epstein made two saves.
San José State returns to action on Sunday, September 13 in Stockton, Calif. Kickoff between the Spartans and the University of the Pacific is set for 7:00 p.m.
San Jose State (1-2-0) vs. #13 Stanford (4-1-0)
Date: Sep 10, 2015 Attendance: 1587
Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
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San Jose State...... 0 0 - 0
Stanford............ 1 0 - 1
SCORING SUMMARY:
- 32:12 STAN Langsdorf, Foster (2) (Baird, Corey) - Takeaway in the midfield. Baird brings up. Feeds Langsdorf far post.
Shots: San Jose State 7, Stanford 22
Saves: San Jose State 2 (Espinoza, Emmanuel 2), Stanford 2 (Epstein,
Andrew 2)