Most of the men’s soccer team’s early struggles this season came from a frustrating difficulty with finishing scoring opportunities. But for 20 minutes against Oregon State on Sunday, all those troubles were forgotten as Stanford seemingly couldn’t miss—the Cardinal scored three goals early and held on late for a 3-2 win as it salvaged a weekend split in conference play after losing 2-0 to Washington on Friday.

The win over the Beavers (3-8-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) was Stanford’s first in Pac-12 play and couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cardinal (4-7-2, 1-3-1), which must find its top gear in a hurry if it hopes to sneak into the NCAA Tournament in November. It certainly will have the opportunity to play its way in, with home games against the top two teams in the conference, No. 9 UCLA and No. 24 San Diego State, looming in two weeks.

But the story Sunday was redshirt senior midfielder Garrett Gunther, who broke through with the first multi-goal game of his career. The Long Beach native opened the scoring in the 10th minute when sophomore midfielder J.J. Koval played a deep ball into a very dangerous area at the top of the goal box. Oregon State goalie Steve Spangler charged off his line and attempted to clear the ball away, but Gunther got to it first and flicked the ball over Spangler into the empty net.

After going four games with just one goal, it was a welcome sight for the Cardinal to be celebrating on the field. Just a minute later, Stanford struck again. Senior defender Adoni Levine threw the ball in to Gunther, who immediately played the ball across the field towards goal, where senior Alexander Binnie was ready and waiting to head the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season and his career.

A few minutes later, Gunther got on the board again with a one-touch finish past Spangler, sending the crowd of 719 to its feet in appreciation. Head coach Bret Simon lauded Gunther’s effort not just this weekend, but as part of a season-long surge from the fifth-year midfielder.

“Garrett’s growing to have a bigger and bigger impact on the game as the season has progressed,” Simon said. “The last three weeks he’s been excellent—exactly what you want from a senior player, taking all the bits and pieces that you’ve seen over the years and putting them together. With two goals and an assist [Sunday], he has certainly been a very good player and we’re excited to have him going full speed.”

Things got hairy soon after Gunther’s second tally, however, as Oregon State responded with two goals of its own in a half-minute span, the second after Beaver forward Colin Mitchell took on redshirt sophomore goalie Jason Dodson for a ball in the air and won the battle, flicking it past him into the goal.

The Cardinal locked things down for the rest of the half, keeping Oregon State’s offense at bay despite not getting too much going in the attacking half—Stanford was once again outshot, 13-11. This is the sixth straight game Stanford has had fewer shots than its opponent. Simon swapped out Dodson for sophomore Drew Hutchins at halftime, and while Hutchins was forced to make just one save, he was very active in taking several crosses out of the air in front of goal.

“We have a lot of confidence in all of our goalkeepers,” Simon said, “but the game was a grind-it-out type of affair. It was a warm Sunday afternoon and both teams were really tired, so we fought to get through it. The game in the second half wasn’t as pretty as we might have liked it, but it was a good way to get a win.”

The defensive intensity was also present during Friday’s loss to Washington (8-3-2, 3-2), but a barrage of shots early on and a nice combination play led to an early 1-0 deficit for the Cardinal.

While Stanford’s offense finally got things going in the second half, the team couldn’t capitalize on several crucial chances and was caught sending too many men forward when the Huskies counterattacked in the 71st minute and Jacob Hustedt made two very nice cuts to shake defenders before firing past Dodson for the final 2-0 margin.

After the weekend split, Stanford remains .500 at home with a 4-4-1 record. But something about playing on the Farm seems to really get the Cardinal’s blood flowing on offense—the three goals Sunday upped Stanford’s home total to 12 in eight games, while the Cardinal has yet to score on the road, being outscored 9-0 away from home.

That bodes well for the rematches against UCLA and SDSU, but the Card will need to find some way to scratch out a goal or two when it visits Washington and Oregon State next weekend, needing two positive results to keep its postseason aspirations alive.