On Sunday, No. 7 Stanford men’s soccer fell to No. 11 North Carolina at home by a final score of 2-1. North Carolina forwards Bertil Hansen and Luke Hille each scored a goal for the Tarheels while Stanford midfielder Zach Bohane scored for the Cardinal in his return from injury. North Carolina goalkeeper Andrew Cordes picked up the win in the net for the Tarheels with three saves and one goal allowed while Stanford goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly was given the loss with one save and two goals allowed. North Carolina improves to 9-2-4 overall and 4-2-1 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 8-3-4 overall and 3-1-3 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: North Carolina at Stanford-Sunday, October 27th
“Yeah, you know, frustrated again,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “I think you can be upset if you think your team didn’t play well, but it’s frustration when I thought we had the better parts of the game and I thought we were quite good tonight and we’re in a good position, we’re playing well, but I just feel that there’s a lot of indecision from our attacking players when everybody behind them is really pushing and so while we’re on top in the game, we just lacked a cutting edge.
“And then of course, they press as well. They sneak a goal against a runner play and of course it changes everything and it makes life very very difficult from then on. Then we’re pushing for the game, we’re getting tighter and tighter, more frustrated, and you know, they get another goal and it’s job done for them. And so well played to them as far as that goes, but I’m pleased with a lot of very good performances and just we have to change our mentality in the attacking third, basically. That’s all.”
This was another frustrating match for Stanford where they had more shots and corner kicks despite losing the match. Stanford out-shot North Carolina 13-7 and was +4 in corner kicks (6-2). Stanford had the first two corner kicks of the match at 6:47 and 15:25 while North Carolina had their first corner kick at 30:52. However, it was North Carolina who scored first at 37:59 as Bertil Hansen found the bottom right of the goal off his right foot. The Tarheels now had a 1-0 lead, which they would take into halftime. Stanford had a corner kick at 43:19 but wasn’t able to capitalize.
Stanford would be the first team to get a corner kick in the second half at 57:45, but once again they couldn’t find the back of the net as a shot by Noah Adnan was off target. A little later, North Carolina scored their second goal of the match as Luke Hille found the bottom right of the goal off his right foot as an assist by Andrew Czech came off the cross bar. It was now a 2-0 lead for the Tarheels at 67:09.
Stanford would continue to try to find the back of the net, but they kept failing to do so. They had plenty of chances and opportunities, but just couldn’t get one to fall. Eventually, the Cardinal did score, but was too little too late as Zach Bohane found the bottom right of the goal off his right foot at 88:46 off an assist from Nik White. Stanford was fired up to have finally scored and have a breath of life, but with so little time left they were unable to even things up. 2-1 would be the final score as North Carolina walked out with a win.
For Stanford, this is a very disappointing loss. They continue to struggle to find goals and in the process dig themselves into holes, making it tough for them to even things up. If they want to end the season strong and perform well in the ACC tournament, they’re going to need to get back to playing the type of soccer that they were playing earlier in the season.
“It’s all about the mindset of the attacking players,” Gunn said of what needs to improve. “We’re feeling sorry for ourselves and we’re not competing, we’re not moving, we’re not demanding. And so it’s all about attitude and that’s something that just has to change because I think we’re playing really really well. We’re doing so many things correctly. There’s tons of great positive performances, but it amounts to nothing if the end of the sword is blunt.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against Cal on Friday, November 1st. That will begin at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“That’ll be another exciting game and this is what we live for,” Gunn said of facing Cal. “I mean, tonight, another great soccer game. We’re frustrated at the result, but it’ll be another tough game and we’re still in a very good position overall. We’ve just, you know, we’ve stumbled, and we have to not feel sorry for ourselves and we have to make sure we’re flying come Friday night.”
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