On Sunday, #7 Stanford men’s soccer defeated Sacramento State 3-1 in their home exhibition at Cagan stadium. Stanford redshirt freshman forward Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas led the way for the Cardinal with two goals at the 72:56 and 73:38 marks while redshirt sophomore midfielder Shane de Flores scored the first goal for the Cardinal at the 53:29 mark. Austin Wehner scored the only goal for the Hornets at the 5:07 mark.
READ: Breaking down the 2023 Stanford Men’s Soccer schedule
“It’s always just such an exciting time of year and just we do so much training and getting ready,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “And so, to get into full competition is always a really exciting moment for all of the players and so it’s great to be at it, it’s great to be back into the season, and as a preseason game, it was a really exciting game. And so, I think both teams were very sharp, it was very very competitive, and it was played at a high tempo and so I think it’ll be an incredible experience for both groups of players and certainly for us.”
Stanford had their work cut out for them in this match from the beginning as Sacramento State quickly found the net within the first few minutes of the match thanks to Wehner’s goal. Wehner’s goal was unassisted as he found the bottom left of the goal off his right foot. 1-0 lead for the Hornets.
“It’s really invaluable,” Gunn said of facing a quality opponent in an exhibition. “If you play in a game that’s completely lopsided, then I think players can gain a little bit of confidence and feel better about themselves, but Sac State have a very good team this year and they’re definitely gonna be in contention for their conference. And so, it was always going to be a tough opponent and obviously in soccer, one early moment changes the complexion of a game. And so, that happened and that then made them a tougher opponent to play against even more. And so, that meant that we were in a fight. That’s a great experience for us and I think the players always would want to come off the field high fives all-around.
“As a coach, I’m happy to learn lessons and learn lessons quickly. And I think that’s what was great about this test today that we definitely had some good lessons to learn. Definitely it showed some of the incredible soccer that we’re playing to create numerous chances and then definitely some of those areas where we can pull our team up and say ok, this has got to be better.”
Despite having multiple corner kicks, Stanford was unable to punch one in before halftime, keeping it a 1-0 lead for Sacramento State at halftime. The good thing for Stanford was that they really settled in defensively as Sacramento State failed to expand their lead. The Cardinal did a nice job of tightening things up defensively.
“Well, I mean I think we all knew we didn’t play well enough in the first half,” Tenconi-Gradillas admitted. “So, we sort of had to take a look at ourselves and move on. Next play. That’s our motto. So, yeah. That’s what we sort of went for.”
In the second half, the Cardinal came out with a good deal of energy, eager to tie the match up. In the 53rd minute, their persistence paid off after a throw in. Jackson Kill found Shane de Flores for a goal that landed in the bottom left of the goal off de Flores’ left foot. At the 53:29 mark, it was now a 1-1 match.
“Shane is an amazing player,” Tenconi-Gradillas said of de Flores and his goal. “We know what he can do. He’s been doing it all last season, all during the spring. It was a great boost for the team and it was very well done.”
For the next little while, it remained tied 1-1 as Stanford had a couple more corner kicks with no cigar. At the 72:29 mark, Stanford had another corner kick and this time they hit pay dirt as Tenconi-Gradillas had a pretty header that landed in the bottom center of the goal. Duncan Jarvie and Louis Weisdorf were both credited with the assist. It was now a 2-1 lead for the Cardinal.
It wouldn’t remain 2-1 for long as Tenconi-Gradillas found the back of the net again at the 73:38 mark off another header. Kwabena Kwakwa was the one who got the assist. It was now a 3-1 lead for the Cardinal.
“Some great goals, I thought we had numerous chances throughout both halves,” Gunn said. “Obviously, second half as the opponent tired it opened up a bit more. But no, I thought there were some wonderful finishes. Some great combination work for the first goal. Great work in the box in the air for the second goal and the third goal, wonderful delivery, and a great finish. Just buried.”
“Yeah, I mean I have to give credit to both Duncan and Kwabs for setting me up,” Tenconi-Gradillas said of his goals. “I couldn’t have asked for better balls. Little flick from Duncan and then I got a little flick on it, too. Hoping for the best. And then the other one, I mean Kwabs put it on the plate for me, so very grateful to have been there and score the first goals for Stanford.”
From there, Stanford would win 3-1. It was a closer match than they would have liked, but in the end, the won going away and did so against a Sacramento State team that is going to be competitive in their conference.
“There’s so many positives,” Gunn said of the match. “Obviously in the first half, it’s just a couple of errors that put us in a hole. But I was happy with our response and the overall play throughout the game and was a really high level and so lots of positives to work with, lots of great showings off people who are getting first college minutes or first college in-season minutes and so just a really exciting time. Now we move on.”
“I think it settles the nerves a little bit,” Tenconi-Gradillas added. “We’ve been playing a lot; we’ve been competing a lot in team. It’s been tough. But no, I think it was good. It was a good test for us to get against an outside competition. But definitely very relieved with a win.
“Yeah, no, it definitely made us think a little bit. It made us look at ourselves. It made us compete again and not be complacent. We know we’re a good team, we know we can compete, and yeah, going down I think was definitely a punch in the face for us and we sort of have to come back and show some character.”
One of the big questions coming into this match was what Stanford would do with their goalkeeper and this match gave us a window into how that is shaping up: Jack Morris played the first 45 minutes, Rowan Schnebly the next 42:20, and then James Swomley played the final 2:40. Gunn is pleased with how both Morris and Schnebly are looking and says it’s going to be a challenge to figure out who should start. A happy problem to have.
“Yeah, Matt Frank has obviously moved on and is playing in Israel now, which is really exciting for him,” Gunn said when asked how he’s managing the goalkeeper situation. “And so, Rowan and Jack have just been unbelievable. And it’s a wonderful battle between the two of them. They’re both doing so well that as coaches, we’ve got really tough conversations that are good tough. There’s a difference between bad tough and good tough. Bad tough is when you can’t find a person for a spot. Good tough is when you’re spoiled for choice and they’re really difficult decisions. And so J-Mo and Rowan have been performing fantastically throughout the year and I’m excited for both of them. James is new to the program. He’s working his way in and certainly we’re hoping for him to develop as the season goes along as well.”
Going back to Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas, his performance was excellent. He’s really been working on his headers in the offseason and that ended up being how he scored both of his goals. To see his hard work pay off like it did felt really good for him.
“Funny enough, heading,” Tenconi-Gradillas said about what he’s most been working on. “So, very happy that I got the two headed goals today. And then generally, just finishing in front of goal. Wanting to make sure I can bury my finishes. Low, hard, and on target. You know, coming in from the cutbacks, from the post. So, a lot of shooting.”
Up next for Stanford is their regular season opening match. That will be at home against Creighton on Thursday, August 24th. Kickoff will be at 3:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
“Well, I mean they’re gonna be incredible games,” Gunn said of their opening homestand. “To play against two top-ranked teams [Creighton & Georgetown] straight out of the gate, it’ll be, they’ll be really tough games. And they’ll be ones that we’re excited to be in and certainly they’ll be those types of early season games that will definitely give you more than enough to think about.
“I think sometimes the schedule is a little bit kinder where again the team can feel great about itself without always being stretched quite as much. Whereas I envision two really good college soccer games straight out of the gate and so what more can you ask for as a player? That’s what you’re desperate to do is to be tested and give yourself the opportunity to show just how well you’re doing.”
“Yeah, we’re all super excited,” Tenconi-Gradillas said of starting the regular season. “We’ve been working a lot into the summer. We know we came back early; captain’s practice and we’ve been putting our front foot forward. So no, I was very happy that the season is coming now thick and fast and we’re excited to get after it.”
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & Twitter: @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter: @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
