The second overall seed Clemson men’s soccer team fell to No. 7 Stanford in a penalty kick shootout, ending its season in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament Friday at Historic Riggs Field in Clemson.

Trailing 5-4 in the penalty kick session, Clemson’s Felipe Fernandez shot was knocked away by Stanford’s Andrew Thomas, ending the game and the Tigers’ season.

“I was really proud of our team tonight,” Clemson head coach Mike Noonan said afterwards. “They battled throughout the entire game and played some really good soccer. I think on the night we were probably the better soccer team and that’s always difficult when you don’t advance.

“When you get to penalties it’s a coin toss and you know their goalkeeper saved more balls than our goalkeeper did, whatever happens, happens.”

It was a gritty affair early from both Clemson and Stanford (14-2-5) as the two powerhouses opened the match playing aggressively on the defensive and offensive ends of the field.

“Listen, this team came together this year to be and do something uncommon and although we didn’t win the national championship, we accomplished what we came into this season to do,” Noonan said. “They were selfless like no other team I had, talented, other centered in terms of how they went about what they did every day and it’s just hard to deal with the disappointment of never having this team together again.”

After a back-and-forth half, it was Stanford who found the back of the net first.

After Clemson (18-2-2) conceded a corner kick, Stanford’s Derek Waldeck sent a ball far post side that found the head of Tanner Beason. At the 34:56 mark in the match, Beason connected on the header and sent a well placed shot into the back of the net, giving Stanford a 1-0 lead.

“We knew they were good on set pieces,” the Clemson coach said. “Defense and set pieces a lot of times determine soccer matches. Tonight, it was penalty kicks, a set piece for them and great defense. Goals are hard to come by this time of the year.”

Ending the half down one, the Tigers entered the second half with a chip on their shoulder and it showed. As they dominated possession right from the start of the whistle, the dangerous Clemson attack knotted it at one later in the half.

“Give Stanford credit, they defended exceptionally well,” Noonan said. “In the first half we played some really good soccer, but we didn’t get numbers between the post when the ball was there to be had. They blocked a lot of shots and did what they needed to do.”

At the 68:33 mark, after beating his man down the wing, Clemson forward Grayson Barber sent a cross towards the far post. Making a beautiful run into the box. Freshman forward Mohamed Seye climbed the latter, putting a head on the ball and beating the Stanford keeper near post, tying the game at 1-1.

“That’s why he was in the game,” Noonan said. “They had two physical center defenders and Seye is a physical guy. We’ve got a lot of weapons on this team. Without Tanner tonight, I think we had two upperclassmen play, everyone else was an underclassman. There’s a lot more to come from this group.”

Ending regulation tied at one, even overtime wasn’t enough to solve this matchup of powerhouses as the match was solved in penalty kicks.

Stanford sealed its victory in penalty kicks, beating the Tigers out, 5-4.

“This team defined success differently,” Noonan said. “They defined it at getting better every day and trying to chase their dream. Their dream was a national championship and the score tonight doesn’t define their success. The way we define our success is with the tears you see in my eyes and the players eyes and that’s what soccer is about.

The Clemson faithful filled Riggs Field to the brim Friday night as the team had it’s second largest crowd of the season with an attendance of 3,267 people.

“There’s no better environment in college soccer than playing at Riggs in a big game. There’s no better environment in college sports than playing for Clemson. That’s all I can say.”