Preseason Stalemate

STANFORD, Calif. - In its final tuneup of the preseason, No. 8 Stanford and Santa Clara battled to a scoreless, 90-minute draw on Saturday night at Cagan Stadium. 

"Another great contest to get us ready for the season," said The Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer Jeremy Gunn. "I really felt that in that first 15 minutes it looked like we would be able to get into our attack and be very dangerous, but we were just lacking that little bit of quality finish."

The Cardinal wasted no time in controlling possession, putting the Broncos on their heels early on. Gabe Segal produced a shot on goal off a free kick just outside the box, followed by a header from Keegan Hughes that sailed just above the crossbar, both within the opening 10 minutes. 

"Santa Clara was able to get into a rhythm of defending, and even though we held an awful lot of possession, always looking to probe, they did a great job of holding us back and kept us quiet throughout most of the game."

Focusing on counter attack opportunities, Santa Clara forced Stanford's only save of the night in the 19th minute, collected by sophomore Eliot Jones, who earned the start between the pipes. The Cardinal's best chances in the second half came within seconds of each other, as two of Stanford's best strikers, Ousseni Bouda and Carlo Agostinelli launched shots from distance that challenged the Santa Clara keeper, but couldn't find the back of the net. 

Stanford outshot Santa Clara 9-3 and had eight corner kicks to the Broncos' two. 

"We're very happy to get another clean sheet, as we started this preseason very much focused on our defensive work. It's very exciting as a team, especially considering the use of some new defenders and a lot of shared minutes among our goalkeepers as well. We'll keep working and moving forward as we try to develop our attacking prowess."

The Cardinal will officially begin its regular season campaign on Thursday, Aug. 26 at SMU. Fans can watch on ESPN+.