PALO ALTO, Calif. – Santa Clara women's soccer fell to No. 2 Stanford 2-1 on Friday evening at Cagan Stadium. Santa Clara fell behind 2-0 before cutting the deficit in half and nearly tying the game at the end of the first half with a ball that hit he crossbar.

The Broncos (2-4-3) played the Cardinal (7-0-1) to a nearly even match over 90 minutes. Santa Clara got six shots on goal to Stanford's seven and both teams earned four corner kicks.

"I look at the numbers a lot and today the numbers say it was an even game," Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith said. "Our team is continuing to improve and very close to where we want to be. All our losses have been by one goal. I feel like we're getting closer and a number of people contributing."

After falling behind 2-0, the Broncos answered back in the 39th minute to cut the deficit in half. Jordan Jesolva passed to Jenna Roering who got behind everyone and hit a nice shot on the ground to the far post for her second goal of the season.

Minutes later Jesolva got a ball in front of the net but her shot banged off the crossbar to keep it a 2-1 game.

"The game is a matter of inches," Smith said. "A few inches here or there and it could have been a tie or a win for us. We feel good about where we are. We think our record is very misleading relative to the quality of our team and how well we're playing. I'm proud of the effort today."

Stanford was the fifth ranked team Santa Clara has faced this season and the ninth that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Against ranked teams the Broncos are 2-2-1.

"We're so close to having an amazingly good record against one of the toughest schedules in the country," Smith Said. "The ball off the crossbar is a good metaphor for how our record has gone. We're so close. As coaches we evaluate the performance more than the score and we look at if we're improving. We are absolutely improving and we're right there. We're so close to getting victories against the best teams in the country and today was another example of that."

The first goal of the game was a result of some bad luck on a loose ball in the box in the 13th minute. Jordan DiBiasi got enough on a shot to find the back of the net.

The Cardinal added another goal in the 35th minute to build a 2-0 cushion. Tierna Davidson slipped a pass into Sam Tran who blasted it past Melissa Lowder.

This was the highest-ranked opponent for Santa Clara since facing No. 2 Stanford on Sept. 22, 13. The Cardinal won that match 3-2. It is the first road game against a team ranked that high since playing at No. 1 Stanford on Nov. 16, 2012 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos dropped that game 2-1.

Santa Clara finishes nonconference play Thursday at 7:30 p.m. vs. UC Irvine at Stevens Stadium. It will be the first opponent this year for the Broncos that didn't make the 2015 NCAA Tournament.