On Wednesday, No. 1 Stanford men’s soccer defeated UC Davis 1-0. Stanford sophomore forward Duncan Jarvie scored the lone goal for the Cardinal while redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly picked up the win in the net with three saves. Stanford improves to 7-1-0 overall (2-0-0 in the ACC) while UC Davis falls to 4-2-1 overall.
BOX SCORE: UC Davis at Stanford-Wednesday, September 18th
“I thought it was a really really good game,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “Davis are a team that, they’re playing very very well and they’re tails are up and they were a really really difficult opponent. And they were the type of opponent that we haven’t faced this year. Very strong physically, they really load up the back line, and they’re very good at their style of play and it asks a lot of questions of our defenders.
“And so from tonight, the huge positives were I thought defensively we had a really really good night against very very difficult opponents and Rowan made a couple of key saves. So everybody in the defensive portion of the team absolutely full marks with how rock solid they were against a very tough attacking threat that loads up on you.
“And then I was really really happy with how composed we were on the ball. When a team hits the ball at you a lot, it’s sometimes tough to get the ball down and go from a hundred to sixty and go from super-fast paced to then being composed and I was really really excited with how composed we were and how we passed it tonight.
“We created some good chances that on another night could have gone in, but then probably the only negative of the night was that we were hanging up crosses and we were bringing their goalkeeper into the game and he was finishing the attack every time. And so the only thing I would have looked to have improved on would have been different types of services and take their goalkeeper out of the equation where we then would have created many more attacking opportunities from good positions and we would have had more second phases and more third phases where we would have continued the attack. But, it’s a really really tough game.”
This match was chippy from the jump as both teams each got a yellow card within the first seven minutes of play. Neither team scored in the first half, but it was not dull on action. Both teams were scrapping hard, each getting one corner kick. Stanford getting a corner kick at 16:20 and UC Davis getting a corner kick at 21:51. Stanford did outshoot UC Davis 6-1 in the half but wasn’t able to capitalize. Tied up 0-0 at halftime, both teams were looking for an answer.
UC Davis came out firing early in the second half as they got a corner kick at 47:13. That led to a shot by Scott Buie to the bottom center of the net that was saved by Rowan Schnebly, his first save of the match. At 56:41, Kevin Welch fired a shot at the top right of the net for Davis that was once again saved by Schnebly.
“Yeah, I think that was a difficult one because we were all frozen as we though the ball was out of bounds,” Schnebly said of his second save. “I saw the ball cut back, he headed it, we all thought it was out of bounds but in those moments you need to play it like the ball is not out of bounds, so I just launched myself and tried my best to keep it out of the back of the net.”
At 76:34, Schnebly got his third save of the match as Keegan Walwyn-Bent fired a shot to the bottom right of the net. UC Davis was actually getting more corner kicks than Stanford (6-4 for the entire match) and doing a nice job of applying the pressure.
“It is one of the hardest positions on the field,” Schnebly said of being goalkeeper. “It’s a very lonely position. You make a mistake you can see the goal. You feel like it’s all your fault. I think one of the most important things is knowing the guys in front of you have your back and knowing that they’re going to back you up, but you have to back them up and so I think it’s just taking deep breaths, making sure you’re calm and making sure you’re alert and switched on for every play because you never know what’s going to happen in front of you and you’re the last man back and you gotta try to make a save if possible.”
At 78:27, Stanford got their fourth corner kick of the match, hoping that would finally turn the tides in their favor. Unfortunately for Stanford, that did not result in a goal as one minute later Shane de Flores committed a foul, giving a free kick to UC Davis.
However, Stanford wouldn’t be scoreless for much longer. At 84:17, Duncan Jarvie found the bottom right of the goal off a header as Fletcher Bank and Dylan Hooper got credited with the assist. Up 1-0, Stanford now just needed to finish the job and ensure UC Davis didn’t even things up before the buzzer.
“I don’t really remember the buildup to be honest, but I know Fletcher got the ball out wide,” Jarvie recalled. “I looked at it, I was gonna run near post like nah, he’s gonna clip it and so I drifted far post and he just plopped it right onto my head and finished the job. Put it in the back of the net…It’s awesome. The whole game is tight back and forth. They had really good chances. Rowan made some crazy saves. We had some good looks and so to be able to score in the last ten minutes of the game really just, it takes the heat out of the game for us. I mean, we go up and then now we just have to defend, but it was awesome.”
“We managed to get in that position all night and we hung the ball up,” Gunn said of Jarvie’s goal. “We just didn’t manage to connect on those crosses and finally we managed to do exactly what we’ve been doing well and Duncan’s job was we were being very good peripheral. We just needed a number nine to plant himself in front of goal and bury a chance. So as far as that goes, he did exactly what was asked of him. So well done.”
In the end, Stanford was able to fend off UC Davis with a 1-0 victory as the Aggies’ aggression at the end wasn’t able to result in a goal. It was a hard fought match and UC Davis showed why they are a much better team than their name suggests. Still, in the end Stanford pulled through as one would expect the number one team in the nation to do.
“Yeah, I think it was the determination overall,” Schnebly said of the key to their win. “We were struggling to find the back of the net. We had created so many great chances, but we kept getting frustrated with not being able to ultimately put it in the back of the net, so I think it’s just keep doing the things that keep working and we kept doing that and it was due time before the goal came, so I think that the fact that we kept doing that ultimately just helped us get to where we did.”
For Stanford, the two heroes of this match were Duncan Jarvie and Rowan Schnebly. Jarvie’s goal was what pushed the Cardinal over the top and then Schnebly had some incredible saves to keep the match tied 0-0 until Jarvie was able to find the back of the net. Both were fantastic and did what was asked of them.
“Like I said, I thought we defended very well and we really didn’t give up much at all, but we did give up a couple of good chances and he made some fantastic saves,” Gunn said of Schnebly.
“I think one of the saves actually probably wouldn’t have counted because I think they blew for the foul, but it was still a great save and then two other moments where he absolutely was rock solid and so very pleased with his performance and like I say, fantastic performance all around. You always want to be greedy and score more goals, but overall it’s a great shutout and a great, really mature performance because we saw the game off at the end of the game as well, which was important. You know, we were intelligent, we were composed, and I really felt it was one of those performances that maybe the crowd would have loved more goals but as a coach I have to really commend the players with the maturity at which we played.”
Given they came in ranked number one in the country and have had such a strong start to the season, Stanford could have easily lost this match. Davis had some opportunities to score, but Stanford in the end showed the resiliency that is needed to be a championship caliber team.
“I think it’s just the mental toughness and mental fortitude that we have,” Jarvie said of the key to their victory. “We’ve done that against, we’ve seen results out against Clemson and Notre Dame. Like against two really good teams, and so why can’t we do the same with this game and win it. Get a game-winning goal. And so, yeah it’s just no quit in the team.”
“When he scored, I was so happy,” Schnebly said of Jarvie’s game-winner. “I feel like we were knocking on the door the entire game and I was nervous because the clock was, it was ticking down slowly but surely. But I think when he finally hit the back of the net I was so relieved. I was so happy, but I realized that we still had five minutes to defend and make sure they didn’t get one back on us.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against Duke on Sunday, September 22nd. That will be the first ACC match on The Farm for Stanford after having their first two ACC matches on the road. That will begin at 6:30 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Hey really excited,” Gunn said of welcoming Duke to The Farm. “It’s our first time we get to play at home in a new conference. We’ve had some really exciting road performances and so it’s the night before school starts. We’d love to get a huge crowd out here. Let’s get the students out, let’s make it exciting, let’s make it rowdy, and let’s keep fighting our way through this incredible season.”
“Yeah, I mean I think we’re all so excited,” Schnebly added. “It’s one game at a time, but to play our first ACC game at Stanford, the first game in the history, I think we’re all super excited and we can’t wait to get out there and get started and show these ACC teams and continue to show them actually why we can hang with all of them and why the Pac-12 was nothing less than the ACC. So, I think we’re really excited to have Duke out. Hopefully we get a great student turnout with all the students returning to campus and we’re excited to bring the ACC to Stanford.”
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