The two-time defending NCAA champion and ninth-seeded Stanford men’s soccer team hosts a third-round NCAA match for the third consecutive year, taking on visiting Coastal Carolina on Sunday at 5 p.m.
The Cardinal (15-2-2) and Chanticleers (14-6-1) are meeting for the first time, both taking different paths.
Stanford and Pacific played to a scoreless draw last Sunday and the Cardinal advanced on penalty kicks, 4-1, eliminating the Tigers in the second round for the second consecutive season.
The same day, Coastal Carolina traveled to eighth-seeded Clemson, scored twice in the first five minutes and won, 3-1, to advance to the third round for the fourth time in program history and first since 2013. Coastal Carolina hosted a first-round game, beating Mercer 1-0.
Stanford remains unbeaten in NCAA tournament play in over 1,100 days, last losing in the second round on Nov. 23, 2014 to UC Irvine in overtime, 1-0.
The Cardinal won the 2016 title without allowing a goal throughout the entire tournament, becoming just the third program to ever do that.
Stanford owns an active postseason shutout streak of eight consecutive matches, an NCAA record, and 842:17 of match time. It last surrendered an NCAA tournament goal in the quarterfinals at Wake Forest on Dec. 5, 2015, a penalty shot in the 70th minute.
Stanford hasn’t conceded a goal during the run of play in the tournament in the last 940:34, since Ohio State’s Abdi Mohamed scored at 61:41 in a third-round match at Cagan Stadium on Nov. 29, 2015.
One of four coaches to win NCAA titles in both Division I and Division II, head coach Jeremy Gunn’s teams are 80-25-18 (.724) in his five-plus seasons on The Farm. He owns a career record of 267-86-49 (.725) in 18-plus seasons, a mark which makes him the fourth winningest active coach at the Division I level by percentage. With Stanford’s 2016 NCAA title Gunn became the seventh coach in Division I history to win back-to-back national championships.
Women’s soccer
Top-seeded Stanford hosts No. 10 Penn State on Friday at 2 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
The Cardinal (21-1-0) advanced with wins over Utah Valley, Auburn and Florida State in the opening rounds. Jordan DiBiasi scored the only goal of a 1-0 win over Florida State in the third round on Sunday, and Alison Jahansouz earned her 10th shutout of the season.
Friday’s contest will air live on Pac-12 Networks.
Stanford is 2-1 all-time against the Nittany Lions (15-4-4). The Cardinal’s last home regular-season loss came at the hands of Penn State on Sept. 11, 2015. Despite outshooting the Nittany Lions 16-4, the Cardinal dropped a 2-0 decision. Since then, Stanford is 28-0-2 in regular season home games and 34-1-3 in home contests overall.
Men’s basketball
Stanford begins play in the PK80 (Phil Knight Invitational) on Thursday against No. 7 Florida at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. The Cardinal and Gators are slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off time in a game that will air on ESPN2.
It’s nearly 19 years to the day since Stanford played back-to-back top-10 opponents in the Associated Press poll. On Nov. 27, 1998, Stanford played No. 9 North Carolina in the preseason NIT in Madison Square Garden. The Cardinal’s next game was against No. 2 Maryland on Dec. 6, 1998 in the BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C. Stanford, ranked fifth in the AP poll themselves, dropped a 57-49 decision to the Tar Heels and a 62-60 decision to the Terrapins.
Stanford is 16-10 all-time against the other seven teams (Duke, Florida, Gonzaga, Ohio State, Texas, Butler and Portland State) in the Motion Bracket of the Phil Knight Invitational. The Cardinal most recently faced Texas, dropping a 75-73 decision to the Longhorns at home on Dec. 19, 2015. Dorian Pickens, then a sophomore, led the Cardinal with 24 points in the game.
Stanford’s starting post players, Reid Travis and Michael Humphrey, have combined to average 33.4 points and 17.2 rebounds per game. Travis is fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring with at 21.2 ppg. Humphrey is averaging a double-double with 10.6 rpg and 12.2 ppg. He ranks fourth in the conference in rebounding. The duo ranks second in the league in combined rebounding average and third in combined scoring average.
Despite one of the most veteran rosters in the nation, Stanford’s freshman class has contributed valuable minutes. Three freshmen — Daejon Davis, Oscar Da Silva and Isaac White — are each averaging more than 25 minutes per game. White ranks second on the team in scoring (12.8 ppg) and Da Silva is tied for second on the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg).
Women’s basketball
No. 14 Stanford (2-2) makes its first trip to Las Vegas since 1991 for the Play4Kay Showcase running from Nov. 23-25 at Mandalay Bay. The Cardinal opens the tournament with Kent State (3-1) on Thursday, Nov. 23 at 5:30 p.m.
Track and field
Track & Field News rated the Stanford men’s freshmen class No. 1 in the nation, and the Cardinal women was ranked No. 4.
The Stanford men earned their first No. 1 ranking since 1999 and fourth top-ranking overall, tying for the most in the years since TF&N has established its recruiting rankings.
The 10-member men’s freshman class consists of distance runner Callum Bolger (San Luis Obispo), javelin thrower Liam Christensen (Mount Pleasant, S.C.), jumper/combined events athlete Jack Herkert (Verona, Wis.), thrower Jake Koffman (Orono, Maine), distance runner Connor Lane (Raleigh, N.C.), middle-distance runner Brandon McGorty (Fairfax, Va.), sprinter Gabriel Navarro (El Paso, Texas), distance runner DJ Principe (Johnston, R.I.), sprinter Louis Stenmark (Mosman, New South Wales, Australia), and distance runner Michael Vernau (Davis).
Highlighting this group is 2017 U.S. junior national javelin champion Christiansen (season best 228-0, 69.49 meters), No. 1 prep 1,500-meter runner Principe (3:44.52), No. 2 5,000 runner Lane (14:17.89), and No. 3 half-miler McGorty (1:48.71).
The 12-member women’s freshman class consists of sprinter Ashlan Best (Guelph, Ontario, Canada), combined events athlete Giana Gayles (Merritt Island, Fla.), middle-distance runner Julia Heymach (Houston), distance runner Jessica Lawson (Addison, N.Y.), distance runner Nevada Mareno (Raleigh, N.C.), javelin thrower Virginia Miller (Vashon, Wash.), distance runner Jordan Oakes (Seattle), high jumper Valerie Przekop (Jamison, Pa.), distance runner Kaitlin Ryan (Tuckahoe, N.Y.), long and triple jumper Aria Small(Bridgetown, Barbados), jumper and combined events athlete Samantha Seaton (Simi Valley), and sprinter Carolyn Wilson (Thousand Oaks, Calif.).
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics