STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford remained unbeaten after a hard-fought battle between two NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago, earning a 1-0 shutout over UC Davis on Sunday evening.
The victory marked Stanford’s first clean sheet of the season as the Cardinal improved to 4-0-0. UC Davis remains in search of its first victory of 2025, falling to 0-2-2 after the narrow defeat.
“It was a tremendous victory tonight and I’m really pleased with the attitude and the performance of the team,” said Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer Jeremy Gunn. “That’s a great team we played, and it was one of those games where it’s difficult to create openings. There was never a time where I saw frustration. We just kept looking for our moment and in the end, it came down to one goal to decide the game.”
It was a physical contest between the in-state foes with limited opportunities in the opening half, as neither defense allowed a threatening chance before the match went into halftime scoreless.
As the second half unfolded, the pace of the game increased and offensive attacks began to open up, with Stanford slightly gaining momentum after a forced save and a few set-piece chances.
The Cardinal’s golden opportunity arrived in the 76th minute and freshman Jude Stone delivered, collecting a loose ball and dribbling through the Aggie defense before firing a left-footed shot that snuck inside the right post for the first score of his career.
Stone became the third true freshman to score a goal for Stanford in 2025, with Tomo Allen and Jack Pymm already finding the back of the net earlier in the season.
“Just happy to help the team,” Stone said. “We already had a couple of close chances. I just found my way through a couple of guys and let it fly. I think our togetherness and our will to win helped us tonight. We stayed together throughout the whole 90 minutes, and everyone did their part.”
UC Davis turned up the pressure looking for the equalizer in the closing moments, but Rowan Schnebly stayed poised between the posts, logging a pair of saves in the final ten minutes to secure the shutout.
The clean sheet was the 12th solo shutout of Schnebly’s career after the Cardinal netminder tallied shutout victories a season ago.
The final scoresheet saw the Cardinal hold a 13-10 shot advantage, while the Aggies managed a 5-3 edge on corner kicks. Both sides recorded three saves in the contest.
“I was really happy that it was a tough game,” Gunn added. “We’ve been working really hard in these games and tonight we earned a great reward. We were constantly scrapping for the ball and trying to insert ourselves into the game rather than waiting to see what happens.”
Stanford now turns its attention to conference play, opening ACC action on September 5 with an early road test against Louisville. Kickoff is slated for 8 a.m. PT on Friday.