Stanford Falls to SMU on a Pair of Late Goals
Gabriel Costa scored twice in the 78th minute of the match to enable SMU (1-0) to upset #8 Stanford (0-1) by a score of 3-1. Costa’s golden minute began when the Mustangs were awarded a penalty kick after Stanford goalkeeper Eliot Jones committed a foul in the box. Jones dove to his right to save Costa’s penalty kick, but Costa was in perfect position to head home the rebound.
Fifteen seconds later, Costa received a pass from Timo Hummrich, noticed that Jones was off his line, and sent a shot from near midfield that sailed over Jones’s head and into the net.
Stanford had the bulk of the chances early in the match and took the lead in the 10th minute when Noah Adnan headed home a corner kick from Ousseni Bouda, making his return to the lineup after missing last season.
The Mustangs evened up the match in the 28th minute, thanks to a goal by last season’s leading scorer, Papa Ndoye. Lane Warrington sent in a cross into the middle that Ndoye couldn’t reach, Kyran Chambron Pinho grabbed the ball on the left side of the penalty area, drew Jones and a Stanford defender to him, and sent a short pass into the middle to set up Ndoye for a lethal left-footed strike.
SMU had the bulk of the possession in the second half, but Stanford’s defense was able to keep them off of the scoreboard until Costa’s twin strikes. Stanford was able to get off a couple of shots in the final moments of the match, but Bouda’s shot went wide and Will Richmond’s attempt was blocked.
Saint Mary’s Beats Cal Thanks to Freshman’s First College Goal
Freshman Jack Vestberg scored the only goal of the match in the 86th minute, enabling Saint Mary’s (1-0) to beat Cal in Moraga. Boyd Curry’s pass found David Brog crossing midfield, Brog’s pass threaded the needle between two Cal defenders and found Vestberg just outside the penalty area. Vestberg took two more steps as goalkeeper Chris Gustini rushed out to cut down the angle; Vestberg let go of a left-footed shot that bounced three times and settled in the back of the net.
After the goal, the Bears searched frantically for the equalizer and Christian Gomez had a final chance with 9 seconds left in regulation time, but his shot went high.
The Gaels had most of the chances in the first half, but Gustini made six saves to keep his club in the match, including Curry’s 11th minute header, a pair of shots from Timothy Stephens, and Gael Quintero’s shot attempt late in the first half.
Saint Mary’s goalkeeper Nicholas Lapinid was tested a few times, including an attempt by Juan Martinez early in the match. The Bears’ Nate Carrasco had two opportunities in the second half: a header in 73rd minute that went just wide and shot attempt that Lapinid snuffed out five minutes later.
Cal Earns a Point at UC Santa Barbara
Cal (0-1-1) concluded its tough season-opening road trip with a 1-1 draw vs. UC Santa Barbara (1-1-0) on Sunday night.
The Golden Bears opened the scoring in the 19th minute, when Cal goalkeeper Chris Gustini booted the ball into the Gauchos’ half. Sophomore Wyatt Meyer timed his run perfectly to get behind three Gaucho defenders while avoiding the offside call. Meyer deadened the ball with his left foot, took another stride, and fired a curving shot from the top of the penalty area. Gauchos’ Goalkeeper Leroy Zeller made a diving attempt to stop it, but could only watch as it hit the far post and rebounded backward toward the near post and into the net, like a trick shot in billiards.
The Gauchos evened up the match in the 73rd minute, on a free kick from just outside the arc. Gustini made a diving save on Thabit Baartman’s initial effort, but Will Gillingham slammed home the rebound.
Both clubs had chances to end the match in regulation. Cal’s Christopher Grey’s blast in the 84th minute was on target, but Zeller saved it at the near post. The Gauchos’ Ameyawu Muntari threatened with seconds to go in regulation time, but his shot was smothered by the Cal defense.
Cal’s best chance in overtime came in the final minute of the second extra period, when Juan Martinez’s free kick was just wide.
USF Wins and Loses in Chris Brown’s First Week at the Helm
On Thursday night, the Dons earned a win in Chris Brown’s debut as head coach, outlasting Sacramento State 2-1 thanks to a first-half brace from Nonso Adimabua. His first goal came in the 17th minute, when the Dons’ Gabriel Bracken Serra sent in a through ball just as he was being tackled by Sacramento State defender Tone Andres, enabling Adimabua to get behind the Hornets’ defense and beat goalkeeper Ryan Curtis at the near post.
The Hornets evened the match in the 36th minute, when Titus Washington was taken down by the Dons’ Arjan Dosanjh in the box. Axel Ramirez converted the subsequent penalty kick.
Adimabua closed out the scoring 17 seconds before the end of the first half, when a through-ball from the Dons’ half found him alone with Andres near midfield. Adimabua trapped the ball with his right foot and cut to his left, freezing Andres, then tucked his left-footed shot inside the far post.
Freshman Charlie McKay played all 90 minutes in goal for the Dons and made three saves.
On Sunday, Tommy Silva’s golden goal in third minute of overtime doomed the Dons (1-1) to a 2-1 loss at UCLA (1-1). The Bruins’ Tucker Lepley lobbed the ball into the edge of the box, between two USF defenders. McKay and Silva converged on the ball. McKay tried to make the sliding tackle, but the ball caromed off of Silva toward the empty net as his momentum carried him forward for the easy finish.
UCLA outshot the Dons 5-1 in the scoreless first half, forcing McKay to make two saves. They opened the scoring in the 53rd minute, when Jose Contell made a long run down the left side and into the penalty area and sent a short cross into a crowd of players; Riley Ferch pounced on it and blasted it into the roof of the net.
The Dons’ Shayan Charalghi forced overtime in the 86th minute when Dominic Valdivia’s free kick bounced off of a UCLA defender and right to the unmarked Charalghi who nodded it home from three yards out.
Santa Clara Wins Twice at Home
Freshman Dominic Vegaalban’s 80th minute penalty kick was not just the only goal in Santa Clara’s win over Cal Poly (0-1) on Friday night, it also concluded a sequence of events that included a red card, a retaken penalty kick, and arguments on both sides.
It began when Caden Buckley’s shot from the top of the box was deflected over the endline by Mustangs’ goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado. The subsequent corner kick came directly to Oladayo Thomas, whose shot was headed for the upper corner but was deflected off of the goal line by the Mustangs’ Brady Jackson. The referee awarded a penalty kick for the handball and Jackson was red carded. Arce-Hurtado also received a yellow card for dissent.
Alejandro Barajas took the penalty kick. Arce-Hurtado made the diving save and the Broncos’ Tyrone Kirunda slammed home the rebound, but the referee ruled that the kick be retaken. Arce-Hurtado was shaken up on the play and trainer came out to see if he was all right. After a brief delay, Vegaalban stepped up to the spot; his left-footed shot softly settled into the lower right hand corner while Arce-Hurtado was headed the other way.
The Broncos had most of the chances throughout the match and outshot the Mustangs 15-6, including a one-on-one opportunity for Thomas in the 27th minute, one of five saves Arce-Hurtado made in the match. The Broncos’ Julian Bravo also hit the crossbar in the 36th minute.
The Mustangs had a chance to tie the match in the 89th minute when they earned a freekick in the Broncos’ end and sent it into a crowd of players in the box. Nick Giacalone’s header was on target, but Cases Mundet was able to punch it away, one of three saves he made in recording his fourth-consecutive clean sheet, including last season.
On Sunday, the Broncos (2-0) dispensed with all suspense early, scoring three times in the first half en route to a 4-1 win over Sacramento State (0-2).
Dylan Bartlett opened the scoring in the 10th minute on a long ball from Juan O’Neill that found Bartlett alone with a single Hornet defender. The defender leaped to try and head the ball away, but couldn’t reach it, leaving Bartlett to chase down the ball. He caught up with it at the edge of the penalty area, took a couple of dribbles, and released his shot just as goalkeeper Ryan Curtis converged upon him. Bartlett leaped over Curtis and began his goal celebration.
In the 25th minute, Javier Ruiz Duran intercepted a pass from a Hornets’ defender, passed the ball to Oladayo Thomas in the middle, and waited for the return pass on the right side of the box; Ruiz Duran’s left-footed curled toward the far post as Curtis extended to try and reach it.
Thomas added his name to the score sheet in 40th minute on free kick by Alejandro Barajas that Tyrone Kirunda re-directed to him for the easy tap-in.
The Broncos rested Cases Mundet in the second half and former USF goalkeeper Ruben Stuiver saw his first action as a Bronco.
Thomas earned a brace in the 84th minute, when the Broncos sent a free kick into the box, Dominic Vegaalban went for the header, the ball deflected off a Hornet defender and Thomas was all alone in the goalmouth to nod the ball in. The Hornets’ Michael Gonzalez denied the Broncos’ goalkeepers a clean sheet with a goal in the 87th minute.
Lemus Dribbles the Length of the Pitch to Score Spartans’ Deciding Goal
A bit of individual magic from Omar Lemus in the 82nd minute helped San José State (1-0) complete its second half comeback and earn a 2-1 road win over CSU Bakersfield (0-1). Lemus took the ball the length of the field, eluding a sliding tackle attempt from the Roadrunners’ Niklas Roessler, dribbling around Stephon Marcano, and sending a left footed shot toward the far post that scooted past goalkeeper Scott Pengelly.
Bakersfield opened the scoring in the 34th minute, when they earned a penalty kick on a foul by the Spartans’ Kameron Bolden in the box. Carlos Armendariz sent the subsequent spot kick into the right side of the net.
The Spartans’ Willy Miranda evened up the match in the 66th minute, as Carlos Gomez-Zavala made a run up the middle and laid the ball off to Miranda at his left. Miranda made his run into the box, Pengelly rushed out to cut down the angle, but Miranda’s low, hard shot was perfectly placed inside the far post.
More than 1,000 fans came out for the match in Bakersfield, which was also a homecoming for San José State head coach Simon Tobin who coached CSU Bakersfield for 27 seasons, winning seven conference titles and the NCAA Division II national championship in 1997.
