Stanford men to play for third straight soccer title
Soccer team to play for third straight title
CHESTER, PA. >> Goals in each half by Foster Langsdorf and Sam Werner propelled Stanford to a 2-0 victory over Akron in the NCAA College Cup men’s soccer semifinals Friday.
Two-time defending champion Stanford (18-22) heads into its third consecutive NCAA final where it will play Indiana on Sunday (10 a.m., ESPN2) also at Talen Energy Stadium.
Stanford also has a chance to overtake UCLA for the most NCAA team titles in all sports. Each is locked in at 114. If it wins Sunday, Stanford would become the first school to win the men’s and women’s titles in the same year.
Langsdorf, the two-time Pac-12 Player of the Year, scored on a diving header in the 26th minute to give Stanford the lead. He got on the end of a Corey Baird chip into the middle for his 14th goal.
“We played fantastic,” Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn said.
Stanford extended its postseason shutout streak to 11 matches, an NCAA record. It has not allowed a goal in its past two NCAA tournaments.
On the first goal, Stanford’s front six was pressing and when the Akron defense was lackadaisical with the ball after a goal kick, the Cardinal pounced. Drew Skundrich blocked a pass from a central defender and the ball bounced directly to Baird, who took a couple of dribbles into the box.
Langsdorf was making a run across the box when he stepped in front of the defender to make a full dive at the top of the six-yard box, connecting with his head just two feet off the ground.
“I’ve been playing with Corey so much, I had a feeling, he would send it right there,” Langsdorf said.
Stanford’s second goal also had origins in defense. In his own end, Amir Bashti pressured Akron into a pass directly to defender Adam Mosharrafa, who pushed the ball forward to midfielder Derek Waldeck, who in turn found Skundrich, whose long run put the Zips (18-4-2) on their heels.
Skundrich sent the ball left. Though a defender broke it up, Werner took possession and charged up the left side of the penalty area. It took Werner three touches before sending in a left-footer from a poor angle into the upper right corner of the goal in the 79th minute for the 2-0 lead.
Nico Corti preserved the shutout by knocking away two close shots that represented Akron’s best chances.
Stanford has a chance to become the first to win three consecutive NCAA titles since Bruce Arena coached Virginia to four straight in 1991-94.
• Stanford seniors Andi Sullivan and Tomas Hilliard-Arce have been named finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the Heisman of college soccer. Sullivan, a midfielder for the U.S. women’s national team, ended an illustrious career scoring a goal in the College Cup final last Sunday to lead the Cardinal to its second NCAA title in program history.
They are among the three finalists with the winners scheduled to be announced Jan. 5.
Volleyball
STANFORD WOMEN ADVANCE >> Stanford beat Wisconsin 3-1 to advance to the NCAA regional final at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal (29-3) faces Texas (27-2) back at Maples on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPNU) for the right to advance to the Final Four. Texas beat Utah 3-2 in the first semifinal at Maples in a five-set marathon.