On Sunday, Stanford men’s soccer defeated Sacramento State at home by a final score of 2-0 in their second of three exhibition matches. Stanford sophomore defenseman Dylan Groeneveld scored the first goal for the Cardinal 70+ minutes into the match after which junior midfielder Fletcher Bank found the back of the net a few minutes later, giving the Cardinal an extra cushion to finish out the match with confidence.

“It was another great outing,” Stanford head coach Jeremy Gunn said after the match. “I think we were a little bit sharper on the ball today and I think we just overall as a group played just a little bit sharper. A little bit better. So it’s forward momentum. Another good performance, another good shutout. Trying other things, really. I thought again, we created chances today whereas I think on Friday, we really weren’t creating chances and so today I was much happier with our offensive output. I think we created lots of chances and could have scored goals.

“I thought Sac State defended the penalty box really really well. Their goalkeeper wasn’t making saves. I think there were tons of blocked shots in the game from good half chances and other good chances that we could have scored from on another day in the first half.”

Unlike their first exhibition against San Francisco, Stanford was creating chances all afternoon long. Groeneveld’s goal was the 19th shot of the match for the Cardinal and in total, they attempted 22 shots to go along with nine corner kicks. Sacramento State in contrast fired only one shot and had just four corner kicks. Sacramento State goalkeeper Mac Learned was constantly under attack and to his credit, he was able to muster up six saves. But when you have 20+ shots come at you, it’s going to be hard to keep all of them out of the net even if you are as good as Learned is.

“I think we played well today,” Gunn said. “And we just attacked a little bit better. I think both days we were pretty solid defensively and today we really didn’t give up open chances where we gave a couple up the other day. But again, two shut outs meant that we were pretty solid defensively, definitely the better team on the ball, and then just attacking-wise, I just think we created better chances and like I say, if you go back in the first half there are a lot of near misses in the first half and a lot of near misses in the second half. So that’s great. We got to be excited if we’re creating chances.”

“Yeah, you know, we come up here in the middle/early summer to work camps, but a lot of the boys on the side optionally and voluntarily put in the work behind the scenes,” Groeneveld said of their defense. “And a lot of what we do behind the scenes is really defensive oriented. And that starts even at the strikers. So, the strikers put in the work just as much as the defenders do. It’s really gritty in the summer and that builds the foundation that lets us be beasts in the season.”

While some of Stanford’s offensive success could be credited to Sacramento State not having as good of a defense as San Francisco, Stanford still looked a lot better on the pitch. They were moving the ball much better, motion was good, and they just seemed to be in a much better offensive flow. It does appear to have been a combination of things, but to give Stanford credit, they just seemed to be a lot more organized out there and in sync.

“I think we moved the ball a little bit better today,” Gunn said. “Obviously the first day out, I think we were doing some things that were incorrect and I think we were getting just little things wrong whereas even just from Friday to Sunday, we just improved a little bit with our spacing, improved a little bit with our crispness on the ball, and therefore managed to break a team down a little bit better.”

“I think we really tried to attack the spaces in behind,” Groeneveld added. “More risks going forward. We didn’t turn down any times to make a positive pass whereas before we were trying to play a little more possession oriented. We were ok going backwards. Today we took more risks going forward and we were rewarded with two goals at the end.”

Throughout the match, Stanford was subbing different guys in and out. With it being an exhibition, they were not beholden to the new rules put into effect that make it such that once a player is substituted out, they cannot re-enter the match. That gave both teams the opportunity to give players more rest and also experiment with different lineups. Redshirt sophomore Rowan Schnebly was the primary goalkeeper for the Cardinal while redshirt freshman Laszlo Bollyky and freshman Jordan Victor got a bit of time as well.

Even though this was overall a really sound match for Stanford, early in the second half, there was a major defensive breakdown in which Sacramento State nearly scored. The Cardinal were able to keep the ball out of the net, but that was one moment that I’m sure Gunn and his coaching staff will point to as a teachable moment. Those kinds of mistakes could end up costing a team a match.

“Always,” Gunn said of this being a teachable moment. “With the games so close together and the fact that we didn’t really get much preparation for either game, we’ll look at both games together from the weekend and then be able to look at all of the positive areas where we can improve from. It’s so early in the season. There’s lots of competition for places. We’re really not sure what our best eleven is and that’s in a really positive way in that there’s a lot of people knocking on the door, really pushing for great minutes and so I think that’s an awesome position to be in and now we get back to training this week and look forward to next exhibition where it’s a standalone game next Saturday.”

While he didn’t score any goals, freshman midfielder Alex Chow continued to impress for the Cardinal. He had possession a lot and did his part to help them create good scoring chances. He brought a lot of energy and showed why he’s got a bright future on The Farm.

“He’s a wonderful soccer player and he’s certainly a really exciting player to watch,” Gunn said of Chow. “And so, to me you see him as a wonderful spark plug. You see somebody that is desperate to be on the ball, desperate to be around the ball, he can create chances for other people, and then he’s got a ferocious shot as well that guarantees he’ll score goals this season.”

For Groeneveld, this was the first goal he has scored in a Cardinal uniform. Even though he is still yet to score in an official match, it still felt good for him to put one in. He’s been working hard on his game and hopes to have a bigger role than he did last year.

“Yeah, it was a phenomenal moment. It was my first goal, so I was really happy about it,” Groeneveld said. “But, I think the most special thing about the goal was that our defense has been playing so tough recently and we haven’t let up a goal in a few games now. So, to be able to reward their hard work by taking some risks and getting forward and finally getting my first goal meant a lot to me.

“Individually, I’ve been moving around positions a little bit. I came into the program as a left back, but I’m trying to do whatever I can to play on the field and get in the starting eleven. So, that meant that I had to switch to go play center middle a little bit and something that I’ve worked on a lot is opening up my body and checking my shoulder and playing in between the lines.”

That first goal by Groeneveld really seemed to open things up. It’s no surprise Bank found the back of the net shortly thereafter. Once one goal falls, momentum tends to cascade in favor of the team that scored, making it easier for them to score once more.

“Yeah, I mean, when there’s constant pressure all game and then you finally get that breakthrough goal, it crushes the spirits of the opposing team and the floodgates open after a goal in soccer,” Groeneveld said. “So, I think for sure the goal helped to loosen up the game a little bit, but at the end of the day it was just the second goal was a great attack. Really well done by Will and then Fletcher with the tenacity to get back post to score the goal. It was great.”

Following this match, Stanford will get a few days off to rest and get ready for their final exhibition match against Cal Poly. That will be at home on Saturday, August 17th at 7:00 PM PT.

“You know for me, I feel like it’s extremely beneficial because I didn’t play much last year,” Groeneveld said of the exhibitions. “And to come out and start and play a lot in these exhibition games kinda releases those nerves so that when the season does come, we’re ready and prepared to attack the game.”

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