Sounders FC Academy product and Stanford junior forward Jordan Morris scored two goals in the second half as the No. 8 Cardinal cruised past No. 9 Ohio State 3-1 on Sunday and into the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinal (16-2-2) will travel to top-seeded Wake Forest (16-2-2) next weekend with an eye on their first appearance in the College Cup in more than a decade.
Morris broke open a scoreless game in the 53rd minute before Ohio State leveled the game at 1-1 less than 10 minutes later. Morris then pulled Stanford ahead for good with a stunning shot off the outside of his right foot in the 78th minute before Corey Baird added an insurance goal late in regulation [WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS].
Morris now has 10 goals in the regular season and postseason for Stanford.
The last time Stanford reached the College Cup came in 2002, when the Cardinal lineup featured current Sounders center back Chad Marshall and former Sounders players Roger Levesque and Taylor Graham.
Syracuse 3, Seattle University 1
Sounders FC Academy product David Olsen scored his 11th goal of the year for the No. 11 RedHawks (18-4-1), but it wasn’t enough to spring an upset over No. 6 Syracuse on Sunday night in Upstate New York.
Syracuse (15-5-3) took the lead in just the second minute of the match and added to it in the 20th minute before Olsen cut the deficit to 2-1 with an unassisted goal in the 67th minute. The Orange ultimately added the insurance goal just four minutes later of a scramble in front of the RedHawks’ goal following a free kick.
Fellow Sounders FC Academy product and RedHawks defender Kyle Bjornthun started and logged 90 minutes in the loss, while defender Sam Langston came off the bench and played 39 minutes.
Seattle reached its first Sweet 16 in the school’s Division I history after topping UCLA last weekend.