Sept. 28, 2011

STANFORD, Calif. - After finishing up non-conference play last weekend, the Cardinal will now enter Pac-12 play with a trip to Southern California. First, Stanford (3-4-1) will take on San Diego State (5-1-2) on Friday at 1:30pm. Sunday, Stanford will head up I-5 to face No. 25 UCLA (5-3-1) at 3pm.

Stanford split with both San Diego State and UCLA last season. Stanford earned a 1-0 victory over the Aztecs at Cagan Stadium, but fell 1-0 in San Diego. The Cardinal last won in San Diego in 2009, when Ryan Thomas netted a golden goal to cap a 2-1 overtime win. Overall, Stanford is just 6-11-5 all-time against the Aztecs. Stanford has defeated UCLA in its last four games at Cagan Stadium, but has never won at UCLA during the modern era (dating to 1967). Overall, Stanford is just 7-31-4 against the Bruins.

SCOUTING STANFORD
The Cardinal got back on track last weekend by sweeping Harvard and Vermont at home. The Cardinal defeated Harvard 1-0 and Vermont 2-1 with Jason Dodson picking up both wins in goal. Adam Jahn led Stanford with the game-winning goal against the Crimson and picked up and assist against Vermont. Hunter Gorskie and Dersu Abolfathi scored the goals against Vermont.

On the season, Stanford is now up to eight goals scored and 11 allowed. However, over the last five games, Stanford has scored eight goals and allowed just five. Jahn and Abolfathi lead the team in goals with two apiece, while Eric Anderson leads Stanford with three assists.

Jahn has picked up some hardware this week after being named the Bank of the West Pac-12 Player of the Week and being named to the Soccer America National Team of the Week. The junior from Sacramento has been moved into the midfield this season where is all-around game can be taken advantage of.

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO STATE
The Aztecs are off to a hot start and have been a high-scoring team so far. San Diego State has already scored 17 goals. Nine different players have a goal on the year, including three apiece from Miles Byass, Jose Altamirano and Daniel Steres. Byass also has four assists and is one of the leading point getters in the Pac-12. Blake Hylen has seven of the eight starts in goal and leads the team with four wins and 19 saves.

SCOUTING UCLA
The Bruins are nationally ranked and were picked by the coaches to win the Pac-12 before the season. UCLA are led by Chandler Hoffman who already has nine goals this season. Player of the Year candidate Kelyn Rowe has chipped in three goals and a team-leading four assists. Overall, the Bruins have scored 14 goals and allowed 13. Brian Rowe has seen the majority of time on goal, picking up four wins with 25 saves.

The Cardinal will return home on Sunday, Oct. 9, when it faces arch rival California at 6pm at Cagan Stadium.