The 2015 Stanford Cardinal men's soccer team represented Stanford University during the 2015 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 43rd season of the university fielding a program.
Background and preseason
Roster changes
During the 2015 offseason, Stanford's junior forward, Jordan Morris was capped again by the United States men's national soccer team for an April 15, 2015 friendly against the team's regional rivals, Mexico. Morris scored in the match, becoming the first collegiate soccer player since 1985 to score in a U.S. match. The last time this had occurred was John Kerr, Jr. (while playing for Duke) who scored in a 1985 CONCACAF Championship match against Guatemala on May 26, 1985.
The performance with the men's national team caused much speculation that Morris would forgo his junior year and either sign a Homegrown contract with Seattle Sounders FC, or go on trial with a European club. Despite the speculation, Morris stated that he would return to Stanford for his junior year.
No Stanford players were selected in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.
2015 team recruits
The Stanford Cardinal signed six recruits that joined the team as true freshmen in the 2015 season. The recruiting class was highlighted by Amir Bashti, who was a product of the San Jose Earthquakes academy team, Charlie Furrer of the prestigious FC Dallas academy team, and former LA Galaxy academy play Pierce Ashworth. Ashworth ahead of the season praised Jeremy Gunn's coaching philosophy and ability to develop players for the professional ranks. Ashworth said "There is nowhere in America that has the same magnitude of new ideas and free thinking coming out of a single place." In addition to these three, Tanner Beason, Colin Hyatt and Justin Kahl all signed National Letters of Intent.
Preseason
Stanford were ranked eighth in the preseason National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
Ahead of the 2015 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Stanford scheduled two exhibitions to be played. The Cardinal hosted Cal State Bakersfield on August 17, and Santa Clara on August 22.
Roster
As of December 12, 2015
Review
August
The Cardinal opened the 2015 season at 17th-ranked, UC Santa Barbara on August 28. The Cardinal lost 1–0. To close out the short string of August regular season matches, Stanford traveled out to Kentucky to take on the 18th-ranked Louisville. There, the Cardinal picked up a 1–0 win thanks to a Jordan Morris goal in the 81st minute. The Cardinal finished August with a 1–1 regular season record.
September
September opened with Stanford dropping from eighth to sixteenth in the NSCAA poll, primarily due to their loss to Santa Barbara. The first two matches of September, the Cardinal hosted two East Coast teams: the Colonial Athletic Association's Northeastern Huskies, and the Atlantic 10's VCU. The weekend slate saw the Cardinal pick up two shutouts and two victories over the Wildcats and Rams, winning 1–0 and 2–0, respectively. Slater Meehan's 37th-minute goal off a corner proved to be the difference against Northeastern. Against VCU, Foster Langsdorf and Adam Mosharrafa netted their first goals of the season. Langsdorf's goal came off of a throw in from Eric Verso, while Mosharrafa's goal was the result of a loose ball in the goal box.
The weekend victories saw Stanford jump from 16th to 13th in the NSCAA rankings for week two. On September 10, the Cardinal hosted their cross-town rivals, San Jose State. Langsdorf netted his second goal of the season giving the Cardinal a 1–0 edge over the visiting Spartans. The goal came off a counterattack, where Corey Baird stole the ball from SJSU's Jonathan Colunga, and fed the through ball to Langsdorf. On the 13th of September, Stanford went on the road to Texas to take on the SMU Mustangs. Brandon Vincent found the back of the net to give the Cardinal the lead in the 10th minute against the Mustangs. Morris doubled the lead for Stanford shortly after halftime. A late second half surge of goals from SMU's Christian Boorom and Mauro Cichero tied the match, 2–2, forcing overtime. In the second period of overtime, Eric Verso netted his first goal of 2015, giving the Cardinal a 3–2 victory over the Mustangs, improving their overall record to 5–1–0.