They played 220 minutes of scoreless soccer Friday night at Sporting Park in Kansas City and after a pair of penalty kick shootouts, Clemson and Stanford advanced to the College Cup final. Real Salt Lake Academy product Corey Baird continued to help Stanford as the Cardinal vie for its first College Cup title in three final appearances.
Baird played 91 minutes in a scoreless draw against fourth-seeded Akron as Stanford outshot Akron 12-10 and put six shots on goal to just two for the Zips. But neither team could find the net – a trend that started with the opening match of the College Cup when Clemson advanced past Syracuse after a 0-0 draw and shootout.
The shootout was knotted up at 7-7 when Baird stepped up in the tenth round and put his effort past Akron goalkeeper Jake Fenlason for the 8-7 lead. Andrew Epstein then made the decisive save on Nate Schultz and the Cardinal converged in celebration of Stanford’s first appearance in the College Cup final since losing to UCLA in the 2002 championship.
“We have a wonderful history within our program. Lots of great coaches and great players, but when you are in the moment it’s all about the team you have right now. You try to set goals that you want to have and this group was flat out, let’s play as many games as we can together,” Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn told reporters after the match. “We’ve done that and now we are in the final and want to get greedy and win it.”
Baird is enjoying a stellar sophomore season with three goals and 11 assists after tallying four goals and four assists as a freshman. In four NCAA Tournament matches, he has one goal and two assists to help lead the Cardinal past Santa Clara, Ohio State and Wake Forest before ousting Akron in the semifinal.
The final will be played Sunday at noon MT on ESPNU.
