Shan Gaw scored what proved to be the game winning goal.

Oct. 19, 1997

Men's Soccer Defeats Cal

Captures First-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Division Title

PALO ALTO, Calif.-In front of a season-high crowd of 1,894 at New Maloney Field, the 6th-ranked Stanford men's soccer team captured its first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mountain Division title with a thrilling 3-1 victory over Bay Area rival California. The win delivers the Cardinal to the MPSF Championship game where they will face the winner of the Pacific Division for the conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Stanford took the early lead in the 14th minute on a goal by junior forward Adam Siegman (Scottsdale, AZ/Chaparrel HS). Siegman got past Cal goalie Doug Brooks 15 yards from the goal and eventually angled a tight shot from deep in the right corner past a sliding defender and into the far post for the score. He was assisted on the play by junior midfielder Simon Elliott.

Cal, which attacked tenaciously all afternoon and outshot the Cardinal 18-7 in the contest, responded just 15 minutes later on a goal by forward Adam Hunter to knot the game at one apiece. Golden Bear freshman forward Kendall Simmonds turned in the assist on the play. The goal was just the third allowed all season by Cardinal goalkeeper Adam Zapala, a freshman from nearby Cupertino, Calif. (Bellarmine Prep).

Junior midfielder Simon Elliott's addition to the team this year proved to be a catalyst to Stanford's division title run.

Zapala, who leads the nation in goals-against average, prevented Cal from scoring again however, recording five saves (three diving) on the afternoon. Shortly before the half, Elliott passed the ball on a corner kick into junior midfielder Shan Gaw (Olympia, WA/Capital HS), who then dribbled around a defender near the right goal line and fired a shot into the upper corner of the far post for what would prove to be the game-winner. The goal, which put Stanford up 2-1, was Gaw's first of the season.

Cal came out in the second half with the same attacking intensity, but had three shots from within the goalie box stopped by Zapala. The Cardinal would seal the victory in the 68th minute as junior co-captain A.J. Sauer (Spring, TX/Klein Oak HS) took a feed from junior defender Jamie Clark on the left side and nailed it into the far post for his team-leading seventh goal of the season. Stanford would keep the pressure on the deflated Bear team from that point on and went on for the 3-1 win.

  
SCORING
              1   2   T   
California    1   0   1
#6 Stanford   2   1   3

Stanford: Siegman (Elliott) 14:28
California: Hunter (Simmonds) 30:15
Stanford: Gaw (unassisted) 42:09
Stanford: Sauer (Clark) 68:14

Shots: California 18, Stanford 7
Corner Kicks: Stanford 3, California 3
Saves: Stanford (Zapala) 5, California (Brooks) 1

CAUTIONS AND EJECTIONS
California: #5 Matt Newmark (Yellow) 44:15

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