Sept. 7, 2011

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford will look to get its season on track this weekend when it returns home to newly refurbished Laird Q. Cagan Stadium to take on Kentucky and Lehigh. The Cardinal will face No. 14 Kentucky on Friday, Sept. 9, at 3:00 p.m. and then Lehigh on Sunday, Sept.11, at 3:30 p.m.

MEDIA
Both of the games this weekend will be available only through gametracker.

SCOUTING STANFORD
The Cardinal is off to a 0-3 start after facing three tough teams on the road. Its get no easier this weekend with No. 14 Kentucky (4-0-1) and Lehigh (1-1-1), but at least Stanford will be at home where it is 13-6-1 over the last two seasons. The Cardinal will also officially unveil the new Cagan Stadium with bleachers on the east side of the field and a fully enclosed stadium.

The Cardinal has yet to score this season and will look to get the scoring going at home. Dersu Abolfathi, Garrett Gunther and Taylor Amman have had the most shots so far this year and will continue see the most time up front. Freshmen Zach Batteer and Felipe Noguerol should also be factors.

Defensively, the Cardinal has been outstanding, not counting the opening half against Maryland. Jason Dodson and Drew Hutchins have both seen time in goal with Dodson leading the Cardinal with seven saves. The backline of Tommy Ryan, Hunter Gorskie, Matt Taylor and Adoni Levine has allowed just a single goal in the last 155 minutes.

SCOUTING KENTUCKY
The 14th-ranked Wildcats are off to an impressive start, including a win over Michigan, a College Cup team from a year ago. Kentucky has outscored its opponents 12-6 so far, including five goals from Matt Lodge and four goals and four assists from Tyler Riggs. Both are among the leading scorers in the nation. The Wildcats have split time in goal between Tyler Beadle and Jack Van Arsdale with the pair combining for eight saves.

Friday's game will mark the first-ever meeting between Stanford and Kentucky in men's soccer.

SCOUTING LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks picked up its first win of the season by defeating Yale, 1-0, this past Sunday. Like Stanford, Lehigh has struggled to find its scoring touch in the early season, netting just the one goal so far. However, Lehigh has also given up just one goal in the 290 total minutes this season. Ciaran Nugent has seen every minute of the season in goal so far this season, making 14 saves and allowing just 0.31 goals per game.

Stanford and Lehigh met back in 2009 with the Mountain Hawks playing host and defeating Stanford 2-1 in the season opener. Stanford rebounded from that loss to win six in a row and finish with 12 wins and trip to the third round of the NCAA tournament.