No. 1 men’s soccer (7-0-1, 1-0 Pac-12) ended with a 3-3 draw after double overtime against the University of California, Santa Barbara (6-2-1, 0-0 Big West) on Saturday. Prior to the match, Stanford had won every game of the season, and this comes as the Cardinal’s first draw.
The game started with an early two-point deficit for Stanford. UCSB’s freshman defender/midfielder Finn Ballard McBride scored in the 15th minute and was shortly followed by senior forward Will Baynham, who scored in the 20th. Both Ballard McBride and Baynham are international students from Australia. The Cardinal had not been in a two-goal deficit in the regular season since a 2-0 loss at Saint Louis on Sept. 23, 2017.
Despite the rough start, junior forward Arda Bulut helped turn things around and made Stanford’s first goal of the game with an assist from freshman forward Ousseni Bouda in the 43rd minute to cap off the first half.
Starting the second half, the momentum seemed to be behind the Cardinal. Freshman defender Keegan Hughes made the first goal of his collegiate career in the 48th minute with a header off a corner, tying the score 2-2.
But the Gauchos refused to toss over the lead. Freshman forward Rodney Michael scored in the 63rd, despite impressive saves by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Thomas.
With only ten minutes left on the clock, junior forward Charlie Wehan found the back of the net, once again leveling the score for Stanford and saving the team from its first loss.
The equalizer pushed the game into overtime, but neither team was able to capitalize after two overtime periods. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.
“We’re 7-0 and now we’re on the road against a solid team and we’re 2-0 down,” Head Coach Jeremy Gunn said. “That’s the perfect opportunity to take a loss, lick your wounds and get back on the bus. Instead, we dug in, fought back and showed immense courage. I’m proud of what we did tonight.”
This week, the Cardinal return to Stanford and Pac-12 play, with No. 10 Washington set for Thursday. Kick off is set for 5:00 p.m. PST.
Contact Inyoung Choi at ichoi ‘at’ stanford.edu.