MORAGA, Calif. - Saint Mary's hits the road again this week and will embark on a pair of tough tests featuring the number one ranked team in the nation in the Stanford Cardinal and the 2024 Big West regular season champs in Cal Poly. The Cardinal suffered a one-goal defeat last week in their ACC opener to Louisville but are currently the number one team in the nation with a 4-1 overall record.

Kickoff for Tuesday's game is scheduled for 7:00 PM on ACCNX while Sunday's match against the Mustangs is slated for 4:00 PM and can be streamed live on ESPN+. 

GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE

MSOC | Saint Mary's at #1 Stanford | Maloney Field at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium
Stanford, Calif. | September 9th | 7:00 PM
Live Stats | ACCNX | Tickets 

MSOC | Saint Mary's at Cal Poly | Mustang Memorial Field at Spanos Stadium
San Luis Obispo, Calif. | September 14th | 4:00 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

A Pair of One-Goal Draws…

Saint Mary's enters week four without a win but are coming off a pair of quality draws against UC Davis and 19th ranked Kansas City. The Gaels went on the road and scored first to take a 1-0 lead over the Roos and were able to replicate that with a 1-0 second half lead against the Aggies but came away with a draw in both matches. 

Sophomore transfer David Lee scored his first collegiate goal against Kansas City and then senior captain Bastian Toelhoej converted a penalty kick opportunity for his second goal of the season against UC Davis. The Gaels have settled in nicely over the first few weeks of the season, proving to be a stout defensive group and being in every game thus far, suffering one-goal defeats to both Cal and San Jose State. 

9-Save Performance for Sam Bentley…

Sam Bentley has been a rising star in goal for the Gaels over his two seasons and put together a pair of quality performances against Kansas City and UC Davis. He finished with four saves against the Roos before a career high nine saves against the Aggies to help preserve the 1-1 draw. 

Bentley was as sharp as ever against UC Davis, pairing quality saves with some highlight reel level stops throughout the match. Bentley went on to face 24 shots on the night and Saint Mary's had 13 saves as a team with nine of them coming from the true sophomore in goal. The last time an SMC keeper had nine saves in a match was back in 2014 from Andre Rawls. Rawls was also the last keeper with double digit saves in a match, posting eleven in an overtime defeat to LMU in 2013.  

Series History…

Saint Mary's and Stanford have met in each of the last four seasons with the Cardinal holding a 3-1 record over that span. The last victory for the Gaels over the Cardinal came in double overtime fashion back in 2021. The last time Saint Mary's took on Stanford as the top team in the nation was back in 2016 where they took a two-goal lead into the half but ended the match in a 2-2 draw. Stanford holds a 5-25-3 overall record dating back to 1978. 

Saint Mary's and Cal Poly will meet in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2021 and 2022. The Gaels have won three of their last four matchups with the Mustangs including a 2-0 victory on opening weekend of the 2024 season. Cal Poly will seek their first win over Saint Mary's since 2021 and their first home win since 2017. The Gaels have seven wins all-time against the Mustangs with all seven coming after the 1994 season.   

ABOUT THE CARDINAL (ACC)

The Cardinal brings back eight veterans who made 15+ starts for the program last season, including leading scorers Zach Bohane and Shane De Flores, as well as third-year player Rowan Schnebly. Stanford's loaded freshman class was also lauded as the highest-ranked recruiting class in the ACC and the No. 2 rated recruiting class nationally by TopDrawerSoccer.

In the ACC preseason poll, Stanford ranked tied for fifth along with SMU. Senior midfielder Zach Bohane also earned a spot on the ACC Preseason Watch List after leading the Cardinal with five goals a season ago and being named to the All-ACC First Team. 

Stanford enters the week with a 4-1 record, suffering their first defeat of the season to Louisville in their conference opener. The Cardinal climbed to the top spot in the national poll last week but will likely slide a few spots when this week's poll is announced Tuesday morning. Stanford is 2-0 against WCC schools with wins over San Francisco and Santa Clara and also owns a signature win over fourth ranked Denver last month. 

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS (Big West)

With a program record four Mustangs selected to the Big West Preseason Coaches' Team, the Cal Poly men's soccer program was tipped for a second-place finish Thursday in the annual coaches' poll. 

Defending Big West regular season champions, Cal Poly – in one of the tightest preseason poll results in Big West history – earned 71 total points to finish just two votes behind UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs return all five All-Big West selections from 2024 and nearly 80% of its goal production. Highlighting that group are three major award winners from the 2024 season including the Goalkeeper of the Year Nicky McCune, Defender of the Year Parker Owens and the Freshman of the Year in Quinn Mahoney. 

After running the table in 2024 to claim their first ever Big West regular season title, Cal Poly enters the week with a 1-2 record after picking up their first win of the season against Air Force last week. The Mustangs had a tough start to the season with a pair of shutout defeats to San Jose State and Cal Baptist. They will embark on what appears to be their toughest stretch of the season on paper with three games in seven days including RV Denver Monday night and San Francisco who sits at 4-1. 

Saint Mary's will battle Stanford Tuesday night at 7:00 PM and then end the weekend at Cal Poly on Sunday at 4:00 PM. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information. 

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