STANFORD, Calif. — No. 1 Stanford men’s soccer suffered its first loss of the season Sunday night, falling 3-1 to No. 20 Notre Dame.
Stanford (7-1-1, 0-1-1 ACC) generated 24 shots, putting 11 on target, but the Fighting Irish capitalized on their opportunities to hand the Cardinal its first defeat of the 2026 campaign.
The result snapped Stanford’s 16-match regular-season unbeaten streak at Cagan Stadium, tied for the second-longest such run in program history.
"Honestly, we did so many things really well from start to finish tonight, but we just made a couple of mistakes that our opponents capitalized on," said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director. "We created enough chances to win two games. We had fantastic chances, fantastic shots, but they were able to make some huge saves so all credit to them."
The Cardinal created the better chances early, forcing three saves in the first 17 minutes, but it was the visitors who opened the scoring in the 29th minute. Jack Flanagan’s initial attack was deflected away by Rowan Schnebly, but Nolan Spicer was waiting at the back post to put the Fighting Irish ahead.
Stanford responded just before halftime, pulling level in the 43rd minute. Jack Pymm received a feed from Aidan Reilly, dribbled to the top of the box and delivered a strike inside the right post to bring the score to 1-1.
Notre Dame reclaimed the lead just seconds into the second half following a flurry in front of the net, when Stevie Dunphy’s shot rattled off the back post before Nico Bartlett tucked home the rebound.
Stanford had its best chance to equalize in the 71st minute, when Fitzgerald Boes was taken down in the box to earn a penalty kick. Pymm stepped to the spot for the fourth time this season, but his attempt was deflected just enough to rattle off the post and keep the deficit at one.
Notre Dame added an insurance goal in the 78th minute against the run of play, quickly turning defense into a counterattack. Tristan Tropeano collected Alex Chow’s attempted clearance from his own pass to the back post and tapped it in at the goal line
The Fighting Irish held on the rest of the way, with their goalkeeper finishing the night with 10 saves. Stanford held advantages in both shots (24-12) and corner kicks (8-2) in the contest.
Stanford returns to action Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. against Virginia, where the Cardinal will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of its 2015-17 three-peat national championship run. Tickets for Friday’s match will be available here.