Stanford (3-3-1, 0-2-0)
The Cardinal recovered from their three-match offensive drought to earn a 2-0 win over visiting UC Irvine (2-6-1) on Thursday evening. Zach Ryan and Ousseni Bouda assisted on both goals.
Stanford got on the board in the 5th minute on Bouda’s free kick from the left side, which was slightly redirected by Ryan on to Andrew Aprahamian, who flicked it into the net.
The Cardinal opened the match on a mission, tallying three shots within the first minute of play and 10 shots in the first 17 minutes, forcing Anteaters’ goalkeeper Luke Pruter to make 6 saves.
UC Irvine’s best chances of the first half in the 19th minute, when Ryan Khedoo’s shot hit the crossbar, and on a shot by Lawrence Yamaguchi that was saved by Cardinal goalkeeper Matt Frank in the 30th minute.
The Cardinal put the match away in the 66th minute, when Ryan sent a short pass to Bouda on the wing, Bouda avoided a sliding tackle from an Anteater defender and took on the Anteaters’ Beto Alvarenga at the top of the box. Bouda took a couple of steps toward the endline and found enough space to send in a right-footed cross to Ryan, who flicked it over to Will Richmond for the resounding finish.
Stanford took 23 shots on the evening and Pruter ended up making 13 saves for the Anteaters. Frank made 3 saves in recording the clean sheet for the Cardinal.
Cal (2-5-1, 0-2-0)
Narciso Cervantes broke a scoreless tie in the 82nd minute, earning #11 Loyola Marymount (8-0-1) a 1-0 victory over host Cal on Friday afternoon. Leo Zulli passed the ball to Steven Anderson, who sent in a short corner to Cervantes, who let go of a shot as he was sliding to the turf that slipped past Cal goalkeeper Collin Travasos.
LMU outshot Cal 4-2 in a quiet first half, highlighted by two shots from the Lions’ Duhaney Williams, who hit the right post in the 8th minute and forced a diving stop from Travasos in the 20th. Cal’s best chance came in the 10th minute on a long-range effort from Evan Davila that went wide.
The match opened up in the second half, with the Lions maintaining a 14-5 advantage in shots over the final 45 minutes. Travasos stopped a shot by Creggton Charlton in the 66th minute, while Jackson saved a shot by Fahmi Ibrahim in the 74th minute, as well as smothering a rocket from Wyatt Meyer three minutes before the final whistle blew.
Saint Mary’s (6-3)
Three goals in 11 minutes midway through the first half enabled the host Gaels to overcome an early deficit and earn a 3-1 win over CSU Northridge (1-8) on Friday afternoon.
The Matadors got off to a quick start in the 4th minute, when Marcos Delgado sent in a long ball that Jamar Ricketts chased down near the left touchline. The Gaels’ Boyd Curry came out to challenge him, but Ricketts took a couple of steps along the endline and was able to make just enough room to get off a cross to Khalid Hunter standing near the six-yard box. Hunter flipped the ball into the air with his left foot, made a half-turn, and volleyed the ball into the net.
The Gaels equalized in 19th minute on a cross from the right side came to Jan Marpe, whose header was blocked by a Matador defender; the ball went straight up into the air and Marpe hit a one-timer that tucked inside the near post.
Saint Mary’s took the lead for good ten minutes later. Bourdanné Ngongfor made a long run along the left side and into the box and was taken down by a sliding tackle from Matador defender Alex Lemus. Sebastian Schacht converted the penalty kick with a right-footed shot that tucked in just under the crossbar.
The Gaels closed out the scoring a minute and a half later when goalkeeper David Preys stopped Schacht’s shot from beyond the penalty area with his left foot; David Brog was there to pounce on the rebound and blast it into the net.
Santa Clara (6-1-1)
Oladayo Thomas’s 57th minute equalizer enabled #22 Santa Clara to earn a 1-1 draw with Cal State Fullerton (2-4-2) on Friday night at Titans Stadium. Alex Achramowicz fed the ball to Dylan Bartlett who sent in a cross that Thomas headed home for his fifth goal of the season.
The Titans had scored three minutes earlier when Dylan Robinson headed home a corner kick from Sebastian Cruz for the first goal of his collegiate career.
Titans’ goalkeeper Jose Espino made four saves in the first half, while Broncos’ goalkeeper Andreu Cases Mundet was only required to make one. The Broncos’ best chance came in the 32nd minute when Espino collided with one of his defenders; Javier Ruiz Duran picked up the loose ball but his shot hit the crossbar.
In the second half, the situation was reversed, with Cases Mundet making 5 saves and the Broncos scoring on their only shot on goal. Neither goalkeeper was tested in the two overtime periods, even though the Broncos had to play the final minutes shorthanded because of a red card on Julian Bravo in the 105th minute.
USF (1-6)
Maximilian Arfsten scored a hat trick for UC Davis (4-5) in the first thirty minutes of the match and assisted on the Aggies’ other goal in their 4-1 win over USF on Wednesday afternoon.
Arfsten’s first goal came in the 4th minute, when an Aggies’ cross sailed through the penalty area. Robert Mejia won the ball, took on a USF defender and chipped a ball into the box that Arfsten finished to the bottom left corner.
Seven minutes later, Grant Fidler’s cross set up Arfsten for the header; USF goalkeeper Brandon Keniston tried to redirect it over the crossbar, but he couldn’t get enough on it to keep it out.
Arfsten completed his hat trick in the 31st minute when he chipped the ball over Keniston’s head from a sharp angle on the right side of the goal, after Fidler had stolen the ball near midfield.
The Dons got one back in the 37th minute, when Nonso Adimabua scored his third of the season, on an assist from Ferdy Ghafury. But the Aggies responded 43 seconds later, when a long ball from goalkeeper Derrek Chan found Arfsten, who made enough space to get off a shot. Keniston made the save, but Ryan Dieter pounced on the rebound and sent a right-footed shot into the open left side of the net.
San Jose State (2-5-1, 0-1-0)
The Spartans lost their Western Athletic Conference opener by a score of 2-0 to the Air Force Academy at Cadet Soccer Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Spartans goalkeeper David Sweeney made an excellent save in the 16th minute, when the Falcons’ Tristan Traeger was alone at the top of the 18-yard-box. Traeger took a couple of dribbles toward goal and Sweeney was able to make a sliding tackle to smother the ball and get his team out of danger.
But the Spartans came out on the other end of a similar play in the 29th minute, when Traeger found an opening in a similar position. Sweeney made another sliding tackle, but also clipped Traeger’s right leg. An indirect free kick was awarded inside the 18-yard box. The Spartans set up a seven-man wall to keep the ball out of the net, but Traeger blasted a shot that tucked inside the far post.
Air Force added on in the 51st minute, when Giuliano Daniel’s long ball from the back found Luke Hill at the edge of the penalty area. Sweeney got his hand on Hill’s low, hard right-footed strike, but the ball trickled into the far corner of the net.
Falcons’ goalkeeper Kainoa Likewise made two saves to earn the clean sheet, on shots from Finlay Wood in the 30th and Willy Miranda in the 67th minute.
