Stanford scored twice in the first half, its defense held firm and the No. 3 Cardinal knocked off visiting Denver, 2-0, before a capacity crowd of 2,304 on Friday night.

No. 3 Stanford, undefeated in four all-time meetings with the Pioneers, hosts Denver at Cagan Stadium on Friday at 7 p.m. in a match broadcast via a Pac-12 Plus live stream.

Zach Ryan scored an early goal and Stanford's defense made it hold up in a 1-0 victory for the No. 4 Cardinal against UC Irvine.

After grabbing two wins on its season-opening road trip, No. 4 Stanford (2-0-0) returns home to host UC Irvine (0-1-1) on Monday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. in a match broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.

Zach Ryan's header with 70 seconds left found the back of the net and No. 5 Stanford snagged a 2-1 road win at No. 3 Akron on Monday night.

Five different Cardinal scored goals and No. 5 Stanford opened its season with a 5-0 rout at Penn State on Friday night.