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Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
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Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

Men's Soccer

MSOC | No. 4 Gaels Host No. 7 Stanford in Round of 16

Saint Mary's will host Stanford in their second NCAA Tournament match this postseason.

MORAGA, Calif. — No. 4 Saint Mary's will once again host an NCAA Tournament game as the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal come to town on Sunday in the Round of 16 matchup. The winner of Sunday's contest will play the victor between No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 16 Akron.

The action kicks off at 1 p.m. in Saint Mary's Stadium. Links to the live stream and live stats can be found on the Gaels' schedule page.

SMC is fresh off a 1-0 win over Oregon State in the Round of 32 last Sunday in Fresno. After a scoreless 80 minutes to begin the match, Anders Engebretsen curled a shot in the upper right corner to break the tie and ultimately win the match for the Gaels.

The eighth-seeded Saint Mary's boast an 18-0-1 record, easily surpassing their previous season-high of 12 wins. The Gaels have reeled off four straight wins since their 1-1 draw against San Diego and have shut out their opposition in their last three matches.

The Cardinal will be the third ranked team Saint Mary's has faced this season. The two teams met earlier this year in preseason in which Stanford narrowly escaped with a 2-1 win on a late penalty kick. The Gaels and Cardinal also met in the NCAA Tournament in 2009 where Stanford won 3-0.

ABOUT STANFORD
The three-time defending national champions come to Moraga for the first time since 2002 with a 12-3-4 overall record. Stanford has won the Pac-12 each of the last five seasons and defeated UC Irvine 2-0 in their second round match as a nine-seed.

Zach Ryan leads the Cardinal offense with nine goals and three assists for a team-best 21 points while Amir Bashti and Tanner Beason also have scored seven goals a piece. Stanford has outscored their opponents 31-11 this year and shutout their opponents 11 times. Andrew Thomas has played all but five minutes in goal for the Cardinal this year and owns all 12 of the team's wins.

Saint Mary's has defeated Stanford just four times in 28 meetings all-time although the teams drew 2-2 in their last match in 2016. The Gaels most recently beat Stanford in 1995 with a 3-1 decision.
 
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Players Mentioned

Anders Engebretsen

#11 Anders Engebretsen

F
5' 8"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Anders Engebretsen

#11 Anders Engebretsen

5' 8"
Junior
F