Stanford University’s men’s soccer team will face Syracuse in its first-ever matchup on Saturday as part of ongoing Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. The match, scheduled at SU Soccer Stadium in Syracuse, New York, comes after Stanford defeated Saint Mary’s 3-1 last Tuesday, maintaining an undefeated nonconference record.
Alfonso Tenconi-Gradillas led the scoring against Saint Mary’s with two set-piece goals—his first multi-goal game for Stanford—while Trevor Islam added his third goal of the season. Several players contributed assists, and three freshmen—Tomo Allen, Joshua Partal, and Jack Pymm—started in the win. Four true freshmen have already made their mark this season by scoring or assisting.
Islam has emerged as a key player after joining the Cardinal as a walk-on last year. He leads the team with three goals and six points through six games. His performance included a brace against Sacramento State and a game-winner versus Saint Mary’s. Islam has achieved personal bests across several statistical categories this season.
Tenconi-Gradillas shifted from striker to center back for his senior year but returned to scoring form against Saint Mary’s. Head coach Jeremy Gunn commented: “He’s been absolutely amazing all season,” coach Gunn said about Tenconi-Gradillas. “He’s playing incredibly well, he’s doing everything right, and he’s been an absolute rock for us. It was great to see him chip in on the scoring tonight.”
Stanford enters the week ranked No. 8 nationally by United Soccer Coaches and No. 7 by TopDrawerSoccer after starting the season with four consecutive home wins and one loss last week that dropped them from No. 1 in national polls.
Statistically, Stanford holds advantages over opponents in every major category so far this season—including goals (13-5), shots (119-42), shots on goal (39-16), assists (12-6), and corner kicks (34-22). Their offense ranks fourth nationally for shots per game at 19.8 and second within the ACC; defensively they have allowed only 42 shots through six matches—the fewest since conceding just 27 during their opening six games in 2020.
Eight different players have scored for Stanford this season out of thirteen who have registered points on the scoresheet; Zach Bohane, Islam, and Pymm each have multiple goals.
The preseason saw Stanford go undefeated with wins over San Francisco, Cal State Bakersfield, and Cal Poly at Cagan Stadium.
Coach Jeremy Gunn remains a central figure for Stanford men’s soccer success since arriving on campus more than a decade ago. He is one of four coaches to claim NCAA titles at both Division I and II levels: “He’s been absolutely amazing all season,” coach Gunn said about Tenconi-Gradillas… His teams are 163-53-52 (.707) in his 13 seasons on The Farm and he owns a career record of 350-114-83 (.717) in 26 seasons, a mark which makes him the tenth-winningest active coach at the Division I level (by percentage). Gunn’s 350 victories rank 12th among active D-I head coaches by win total.”
Drew Hutchins joins as assistant coach after serving with NC State last year; Woo Jeon arrives following two years as associate head coach at Cal Poly where he helped secure Big West championship appearances.
Returning veterans include leading scorers Bohane and Shane De Flores along with goalkeeper Rowan Schnebly; other regular starters are Fletcher Bank, Palmer Bank, Will Cleary, Dylan Groeneveld, Dylan Hooper plus Alex Chow and Tenconi-Gradillas—all expected to play significant roles again this year.
Stanford boasts strong home records historically: they opened this campaign with four straight home victories before embarking on their current road stretch.
This year’s freshman class is rated No.2 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer—the highest-ranked group since 2019—with recruits including Victor Fung (#36 overall), Tomo Allen (#48), Jack Pymm (#52), Jude Stone (#123), Brayden Montague (#162), Brad Bennett, Dillon Logan, Joshua Partal, Aidan Reilly.
Bohane features prominently again this year: named to both ACC Preseason Watch List and TopDrawerSoccer Midfielder to Watch list following First Team All-ACC honors last year when he led Stanford statistically across several categories including goals (5)and points(13).
In conference play during its inaugural ACC season last year ,the Cardinal went3–2–3with notable away wins over Clemson ,Notre Dame,and Virginia .For2025,new opponents include Boston College,Louisville,Pittsburgh,Syracuse,and Virginia Tech .
The ACC remains competitive nationwide ,with eight programs currently ranked including five inside top ten :Clemson ,Wake Forest ,NCState,Louisville,and Stanford .
Syracuse enters Saturday’s match having won twice so far but struggling offensively—they’ve scored only three times while goalkeeper Tomas Hurt has recorded two shutouts .Kelvin De Costa,Landon Darko,and Tim Brdaric each have one goal apiece .
After visiting Syracuse,the Cardinal faces San Jose State before returning home against Virginia Tech .The remainder of their schedule includes matches versus Denver,Oregon State,Pittsburgh ,SMU,UCDavis,and Wake Forest —all NCAA tournament teams from last year .
Stanford continues its tradition of academic excellence :the squad posted an average GPAof3 .74(last academic cycle)—highest among DivisionI award winners—and placed15playersonAll -ACC Academic Team .
The program also maintains long-term success:11NCAA tournament bidsin12seasons underGunn ’s leadership ;threeNCAA championships(2015–17 );sevenCollege Cups ;and49consecutiveyearswithatleastoneNCAAtitleacrossallsports .
