#20 Stanford (2-1-1) vs. San José State (2-1-1)
There were plenty of chances on both sides but Saturday night’s matchup between the Spartans and the Cardinal ended in a scoreless draw. Spartans’ sophomore goalkeeper Eric Waltz made a career-high seven saves and Cardinal freshman Matt Frank finished with four.
The first half began with 4 shots for the Cardinal in the first 10 minutes of the match, while the Spartans relied primarily on the counter-attack. Waltz made 3 stops in the half, including a diving stop on a shot by Carlo Agostinelli, while Frank’s only first half save was on a 15th minute shot by Omar Lemus.
Both goalkeepers faced significantly tougher tests in the second half. In the 64th minute, the Cardinal earned a free kick from 35 yards out. Gabe Segal sent the ball into the box and it was headed on target by Will Richmond, but Waltz leaped and extended his left arm to get just enough power to tip it over the bar. In the 82nd minute, Waltz saved another shot from Agostinelli.
Ryota Nakashima was involved in the Spartans’ two best second half chances. In the 76th minute, Max Allen sent a long ball into the Stanford half as Nakashima made his run along the left side; Nakashima’s one-timer was over Frank’s head, but the Cardinal goalkeeper was able to backtrack and get both hands on the ball to send it over the bar. In the 88th minute, Nakashima made his run down the left side and bounced a short pass to Lemus perched at the near post; Lemus’s left-footed shot was out of Frank’s reach but trickled wide of the net.
The Cardinal put the ball in the net twice in the late stages of the match, but neither one counted. In the final seconds of regulation time, Agostinelli’s goal was waved off because time had expired. In overtime, Layton Purchase was whistled for a hand ball as his shot made its way into the net.
There were a flurry of chances in the first overtime, with the Cardinal taking 4 shots and the Spartans 2. The Cardinal’s best chance in overtime came in the 94th minute, when a shot by Ousseni Bouda hit the post. Ninety seconds later, Waltz stopped a shot by Cam Cilley.
The Spartans’ Max Allen nearly won the match in the 95th minute when he sent in a curving ball from the left side that was heading toward the far post, but Frank tipped it away with his right hand. Frank also stopped a header from Kameron Bolden less than one minute later.
Cal (2-2-1)
The Golden Bears grabbed the lead in the third minute, but Pacific (3-1) responded with two first-half goals and held on for a 2-1 victory at Pay Pal Park in San José on Thursday evening.
The Bears’ lone tally was on a shot by Wyatt Miller that deflected off of a Tigers’ defender past goalkeeper Eric Cotton. But they were only able to hold on to the lead for 10 minutes, when Alonzo Del Mundo’s foul resulted in a penalty kick for the Tigers that was converted by Emory Rapaport.
Pacific’s Ryan Her had several chances to score in the first half, including his 17th minute goal from close range that gave the Tigers the lead. Her also took a shot in the 5th minute that was saved by Cal goalkeeper Chris Gustini as well a 31st minute shot that hit the crossbar and a 40th minute effort that sailed over the bar.
Collin Travasos replaced Gustini as the Bears’ goalkeeper in the second half. The Golden Bears outshot the Tigers 7-4 in the final 45 minutes and had several chances to even up the match.
In the 75th minute, a Cal free kick found Shoei Honda at the far post, but his shot went just wide.
In the 84th minute, Cal earned an indirect free kick in the Pacific box, but the Tigers were able to deflect Evan Davila’s shot over the endline. On the subsequent corner kick, Ian Lonergan had a chance from close range, but his shot went high.
With 33 seconds remaining, Cal’s Juan Martinez earned a free kick, but his ensuing shot went wide.
Pacific’s best second half chance came in the 73rd minute when Travasos stopped a shot by Erik Centeno.
Saint Mary’s (3-2)
On Friday night, the Gaels gave up a goal early and two excellent saves by goalkeeper Rafael Guerrero kept them off of the scoresheet in their 1-0 loss to Grand Canyon (4-1) in Phoenix, Arizona. The match was the Gaels’ road debut this season and was played in 100-degree heat in front of a sellout crowd of 5,018.
The Lopes’ goal came in the 16th minute. Marco Afonso received a pass at the top right corner of the box, marked by Saint Mary’s Cade Cowell. A series of fakes enabled Alfonso to make enough space to get in a right-footed cross and the Lopes’ Shaun-Chris Joash redirected it toward Esai Easley for the left-footed tap in. It was Easley’s second goal of his collegiate career and his first since 2018.
Guerrero thwarted the Gaels in the 31st minute, when Riley Lynch made a run along the right side and sent in a cross to an unmarked Jack Vestberg at the six-yard line; Vestberg’s sliding left-footed shot bounced off of Guerrero’s left leg and was cleared away by the Lopes’ Georg Bjarnason.
Gaels’ goalkeeper Kash Oladapo made two excellent saves to start the second half, diving to his left to block Joash’s shot attempt and leaping to get his right hand on a shot by Ariel Aguas less than a minute later.
Guerrero made another big stop in the 58th minute off of a free kick by Louis Sterobo from 25 yards out. Boyd Curry got behind the Lopes’ defenders; his soft header was on target, but Guerrero was able to nudge it over the end line with his left hand.
Easley neared scored a second time in the 73rd minute, when Tosh Yasuda sent a curving free kick into a crowd of players in the box. The ball came to Easley, who blasted a shot that bounced off of the underside of the crossbar and was cleared over the endline by Curry.
Guerrero faced another challenge in the 85th minute and responded with a diving save on a shot by David Brog.
Santa Clara (4-1)
Eduardo Lopez Perez scored a golden goal to end the match in the 108th minute and give the Broncos a 1-0 road victory over UC San Diego (1-4). Lopez Perez was making his return to the squad after injuries had prevented him from appearing in a competitive match for nearly two years.
The game-winner came on a corner kick by Javier Ruiz Duran. Lopez Perez rushed into the box and headed the ball off of the turf and into the net, while goalkeeper Dominic Peters looked on in frustration. Peters had made 9 saves to help keep the Tritons in the match.
The Tritons’ best chance came in the 54th minute, when a cross from the right side found Nick Cirrito unmarked in the box; he hit a one-timer as he was slipping to the turf that sailed over the crossbar.
The Broncos came close to winning the match in the 83rd minute, when Joshua Dabora’s shot attempt was snuffed out by a Triton defender. The ball rebounded to Javier Ruiz Duran, whose shot beat Peters, but was deflected off the line by the Tritons’ Asa Gibson.
UCSD responded in the 86th minute, when Foltyn found himself alone in the box. His shot was blocked, but Alessandro Allen grabbed the rebound and took a shot that sailed over the crossbar.
SCU goalkeeper Andreu Cases Mundet made 6 saves in recording his third clean sheet of the season.
USF (1-3)
The Dons did not play this week. They resume their non-conference schedule next weekend with a trip to play Cal State Fullerton on Friday night and Cal State Fullerton on Sunday night.
