Box Score | Season Stats | Infographic

STANFORD, Calif. – Facing its first ranked opponent of the 2015 season, the Northeastern men's soccer team considerably held its own against No. 16 Stanford on Friday night, coming up short in a 1-0 defeat against the Cardinal.
 
Slater Meehan provided the only scoring of the match for Stanford (2-1-0) in the 38th minute, benefitting from a shot that took a deflection in the box. The goal came during a streak of five shots that the Cardinal rattled off during the last 10 minutes of the first half.
 
In his Northeastern debut, sophomore transfer Khesanio Hall led the Huskies with four shot attempts, but was unable to put any on goal. Frantzdy Pierrot managed to send one of his two shots on goal, while Ackim Mpofu successfully placed his only shot of the day on goal.
 
Although Stanford held the advantage in shots by the end of the game (16-9), Northeastern (0-1-1) set the pace from the opening whistle, taking four shots during the first 21 minutes of the first half. Just more than two minutes into the game, Pierrot rushed the box and headed a ball on goal at Andrew Epstein, but the Cardinal goalkeeper made the save to keep the game scoreless during the early going.
 
After Khori Bennett was cautioned with a yellow card in the 34th minute, Stanford began to pressure the NU defense, winning a series of back-to-back corners late in the half. Following the first corner, Northeastern goalkeeper Jonathan Thuresson saved a shot by Brian Nana-Sinkam, but the ensuing corner led to Meehan's shot that put the Cardinal ahead, 1-0.
 
Contrary to how the first half started, Stanford set the game tempo early in the second half, sending one shot at Thuresson and another shot at the post. Mpofu would lead the Huskies back into the match in the 63rd minute, taking his lone shot on goal of the evening that was saved and landed beyond the end line for an NU corner.
 
Thuresson helped preserve the 1-0 deficit as the game went on, saving two quick shots by Stanford's Foster Langsdorf and Jordan Morris with approximately 20 minutes left to play. Hall orchestrated a Northeastern attack in the 71st minute, but his shot was blocked, leading to a counter-attack by the Cardinal that generated two more shot attempts.
 
Despite winning two corner kicks late down the stretch, Northeastern was unable to produce a resulting shot on goal on either attempt as Stanford cranked up its defense and held onto a 1-0 victory.
 
The Huskies will close out their west-coast road trip on Sunday, Sept. 6, with a 5 p.m. EST game (2 p.m. PST) against California.
 
Stats of the Game
-Northeastern trailed Stanford in shots, 16-9, but limited the Cardinal to just five shots on goal.
-Four saves are the most Jonathan Thuresson has registered in a game since Sept. 23, 2014, when he made six saves against Harvard.
-Stanford is the first ranked, non-conference opponent the Huskies have faced since meeting No. 7 Connecticut in the NCAA second round on Nov. 18, 2012 (L, 1-0).
-Marc Greenblatt, Khesanio Hall, and Jonathan Thuresson received their first starts of the 2015 season on Friday night.