On Friday, No. 2 Stanford men’s soccer and NC State had a 0-0 draw on The Farm. Stanford had 11 shots and five shots on goal, all of which were saved by NC State goalkeeper Logan Erb. NC State in contrast had 11 shots and one shot on goal, which was saved by Stanford goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly. Stanford is now 8-1-2 overall and 3-0-2 in the ACC while NC State is now 5-2-3 overall and 1-2-1 in the ACC.

BOX SCORE: NC State at Stanford-Friday, October 4th

“I thought it was a great game of soccer,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “And I thought NC State played really really well. They passed the ball well and they had some good possession and moments and I thought we just created some great clear cut chances and on another day the ball just lands right. You know, the ball’s gone between a striker’s legs right in front of goal, who had scrambles right near the goal line, all different opportunities and we were just inches away today.

“Obviously the keepers aren’t making that many saves, I think our keeper made a good save. Theirs made one, but really there’s a lot of block shots, a lot of almost for both teams, but in the game, I thought in a really good game, they were looking quite composed. But we were getting some really good looks and we just couldn’t quite finish them off.”

In the first half, Stanford outshot NC State 7-6 while forcing NC State to have four saves. NC State in contrast forced Stanford to have one save. As for the corner kicks, that was even at three apiece.

In the second half, NC State outshot Stanford 5-4 though Stanford did force NC State to pick up their fifth save of the match. NC State won the corner kick battle in the second half 3-0, making it 6-3 for the entire match.

While they weren’t able to pull ahead to win the match, Stanford felt like they did a nice job of creating chances all match long. It was just one of those nights where they weren’t able to get one to fall. Credit NC State for the way they played, but some of it was just a simple bounce of the ball.

“It’s two good teams matching up,” Gunn said. “And when you’re looking at maybe making changes, the game was so tight that would a change help you or not? You know, and it was like it was going back and forth and you know, we made changes with the subs at halftime and we played a little bit different, we went a bit more direct, and we were closing in troubles and I thought we started the second half really brightly and if anything we wanted the people who then came into the game to show more of the same.

“Instead we just kept losing it short and then allowing them to counter on us. Because in the first half I thought they had good possession. In the second half, I thought we were asking questions of them and they were doing well countering. And so we really just needed to end the attacks a little bit better, you know.”

The top shot creators for Stanford in this once were Jackson Kiil and Zach Bohane as they each had two shots. Both guys did a nice job of giving themselves opportunities to score. They just weren’t able to finish.

“We had a couple of good crossing moments, we had a couple good driving moments, and then some good passing combinations where created good looks,” Gunn said. “And again on another night, we’d create lesser chances and score more goals. That’s soccer.”

Up next for Stanford is a road match at SMU on Friday, October 11th. That will begin at 3:00 PM PT on ACCN.

“Obviously ties are always funny,” Gunn said. “Sometimes you think you’re happy with a tie, sometimes you’re devastated with a tie, and sometimes you’re elated with a tie. I think today’ we’re frustrated, but with respect to the game and how the game went, you know, both teams will think about the opportunities they had and how they could have won the game. But also both teams will say hey, we’ve kept opponents fairly quiet in a really tough game. And so I’d say overall a tie is a fair result.”

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