Recap: Stanford Men’s Soccer gets 1-0 exhibition win over Sac State

Credit: Ben Parker (CardinalSportsReport.com) On Wednesday, Stanford men’s soccer got a 1-0 win over Sacramento State in their second of three exhibition matches. Junior midfielder Alex Chow scored the lone goal for the Cardinal at the 13:20 mark off an assist from sophomore midfielder Joshua Partal. Redshirt senior Rowan Schnebly played the first half at goalkeeper for the Cardinal, getting credited with the win and getting one save while Jordan Victor, Brayden Montague, and Bennett Ewing split time in the net for the second half. “So again, we’re just looking for progress all the time and I thought the attitude was really good going into the game,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “We looked very sharp, very dominant, and the first half, I felt both groups did really, really well. I thought we moved the ball crisp and it was a very, very one-sided contest where we looked on top, both defensively and attacking-wise. You know, we gave up maybe one chance, had a ton of the ball, we were always probing, looking to create chances, maybe could have got a second. “Second half wasn’t as happy with it. Just looked a little bit leggy and it looked like people thought the contest was finished whereas I thought Sac State played very well in the second half and they got to move the ball a little bit better. They got to ask a few more questions of us and so, not as pleased with the second half, but again, we keep showing what we’re capable of. We just have to do more of the things that we know that we need to be doing just as far as you know, create our identity and see it all the time. Right now, we’re seeing it stopping and starting and so new players, work to do, can we create a consistency because you know, within a week and a day we got to put 90 minutes together. So excited to see all the positive from the game and still lots to work on.” In the first half, Stanford out-shot Sacramento State 8-1 with a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks. The goal by Chow came pretty early on and on the whole, the Cardinal entered halftime with a decent amount of momentum. They were moving the ball well, creating good chances, and seemed likely to find a second goal before the evening was through. “Dillon Logan, my roommate, beat his man, played a great ball across the box and I was in the right place,” Chow said of his goal. “Like we’re trained to be and just had to slide her home.” “That’s really good, but I don’t want quoting about him being a goal scorer at this time here,” Gunn quipped about Chow’s goal. “But now, it was a great finish. And so, great goal for him, really pleased for him, and hopefully you know, he’s definitely capable of scoring goals and he just needs to show more of that in games. And hopefully that’ll give him the confidence to build from it.” However, the second half ended up being much more of an adventure than the Cardinal would have wanted. Sacramento State out-shot Stanford 4-2 while also having a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Granted, Stanford was playing their second and third stringers in the second half, but still. It was a match that ended up going right down to the wire as the Cardinal defense needed to be what closed it out. “No and again, I’m talking about the standard we’re trying to set and as far as that goes, I mean, they were pretty rock solid in the last quarter of the game,” Gunn said of his second and third unit. “We really weren’t giving up too many chances and we looked fairly comfortable for the most part and those are the foundational things to build from, but again we still want to be attacking better and that’s something that we’ve still got to keep working a lot on.” Obviously, Alex Chow was the man of the match by being the lone player to score a goal. Stanford has been hoping he’d score more goals and the fact that he found the back of the net so early in this match is hopefully a sign of things to come. “Yeah, I think it’ll, I mean, definitely scoring a goal in any circumstance always gives you a little boost of confidence,” Chow affirmed. “So I think, you know, this is a great goal, great assist by my teammate, and hopefully this will get me and the rest of the team going as we progress…I’m definitely just trying to always score more goals, get more assists and you know, be more effective in the final third. Like you said, I haven’t scored many goals here, so I’m always trying to get that number up.” Ultimately, this match was most beneficial because it gave the Cardinal a chance to get other players involved. It also gave the second and third unit players the experience of closing out a match defensively. That’s the kind of experience that could serve the team well when they get faced with those moments in the regular season. “Yeah, I think we’re finding ways to really dig in and you know, when times are hard, we push through,” Chow said. “We get through them into the light and we’re able to keep ourselves there…Well, obviously, as we progress into the season we’re going to start playing, you know, two games a week almost. So I think this is, you know, we’re training through this week, playing three games this week, so I think it’ll definitely benefit us. Give us the legs to get through these long weeks and you know, progress through the season.” Touching more on the reserves, Gunn was pleased with how the goalkeepers performed. With Rowan Schnebly leading the way, the question is who can become number two on the depth chart. Gunn seems to like their depth at that spot and the options that they have. “They’ve all done great, you know, they’re giving us lots of headaches and lots to of things to talk about,” Gunn said of his goalkeepers. “So as far as that goes, very happy with the performances of all the goalkeepers and I think we’ve really got a lot of competition in that position and so that’s always an exciting thing for us.” Up next for Stanford is their third and final exhibition match. That will be on Saturday, August 15th under the lights at Cagan at 7:00 PM PT against Cal Poly. “Well, you know, it’s another quick turnaround, which is what we’re going to need to get used to,” Gunn said looking ahead to Saturday night. “But we’ve worked really hard this week. We’ll allow the boys to get their legs back a little bit tomorrow. And then we’re just wanting to look for energy and that thrusting time of play that creates chances and so it’ll be a night game, which again just adds a little bit more of a real feel to it. You know, the preseason scrimmages, they still feel a little bit like a training session in certain ways, whereas I think the Saturday game really feels a little bit more like a true contest. And so, can we turn it up another notch and can we make it another step closer to being the type of game we’re gonna be facing in a week’s time?” “It’ll be a battle, it always is,” Chow said of facing the Mustangs. “So I think a good cohesive unit will really serve this team well against Cal Poly this Saturday.” Note: Cardinal Sports Report has you covered for all the latest news on Stanford athletics. 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