LOUISVILLE, Ky. - No. 1 Stanford suffered its first defeat of the 2025 campaign, falling 1-0 to Louisville on Friday morning.
The Cardinal (4-1-0) held a 16-4 shot advantage but couldn't convert on its four attacks on frame, as Stanford was held off the scoresheet for the first time this season.
Louisville jumps to 4-0-0 on the season after recording a fourth straight shutout to start the year.
"I was truly proud of how we played today, but also incredibly frustrated," said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men's Soccer. "We started the game on the front foot and, in every category apart from the one that decides the result, we were the better team. We defended well, passed and moved the ball effectively, and created enough quality chances to score. Sometimes the players execute magnificently and you just get sucker punched."
After a quiet opening 20 minutes, Louisville converted on one of its only chances of the contest as Chase Vasquez won a battle for the ball in the box and fired a right-footed attack across the goalmouth that rolled past a diving Rowan Schnebly.
Stanford forced a pair of saves before halftime, including a strike from Alex Chow in the 36th minute that Louisville netminder Alex Svetanoff pushed wide with a diving stop, but could not convert as they headed into the locker room with a one-goal deficit.
Possession in the attacking end leaned heavily in Stanford's favor in the second half, but the Cardinal could not turn their opportunities into the equalizing goal.
In the 77th minute, Zach Bohane put a header on frame off a Palmer Bank cross, but the attempt fell right into the chest of the Cardinals' goalkeeper. A minute later, Bohane set up Chow with another header attempt, and Svetanoff again made a leaping glove save to deny Stanford's best look of the morning.
Louisville's defense cleared out the last of Stanford's final attacking efforts, bleeding out the match's final minutes to seal the upset victory.
"In the end, they scored off their one good chance and then managed to bunker in, sit behind the ball, and slow the game down as much as possible," said Gunn. "It's frustrating when you don't manage to convert on your own chances, but the exciting thing is we played so early in the day that we won't lose a travel day. We'll be back to work quickly and get prepared for our next game."
Stanford returns home for a quick turnaround, hosting Saint Mary's on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for a non-conference contest between in-state foes. Tickets for Tuesday's home match can be found here.