Nov. 13, 2001
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Up Next - San Jose State and Loyola Marymount
Santa Clara will play its final home game of the season on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against San Jose State. The Broncos and the Spartans were originally scheduled to play each other on September 12, but postponed the game due to the tragic events of September 11. Following the final game at Buck Shaw this year, the Broncos will travel to Los Angeles, Calif. to take on Loyola Marymount in the final West Coast Conference game of the year. Santa Clara needs only a tie to grab a share of the league title, but must defeat LMU to earn the automatic berth that goes along with the conference crown.
Series Record vs. San Jose State
Santa Clara's Wednesday night match with San Jose State will mark the 36th all-time meeting between the two schools. The Spartans hold a 18-16-1 advantage over the Broncos including last year's 2-0 victory at Spartan Stadium. However the Broncos hold a 12-3-0 advantage over San Jose State in the last 15 meetings.
Sizing Up the Spartans
San Jose State enters Buck Shaw Stadium on Wednesday with a 9-6-4 overall record and a 3-2-4 conference mark in the Mountain Pacific Soccer Federation. Over the last eight contest the Spartans has a 3-1-4 record which has included wins at New Mexico and at Fresno State. San Jose State has outscored its opponents 35-26 on the season while taking 84 more shots.
The Spartans are led by Lars Lyssand who has scored 12 goals and assisted on 10 others, both of which are team-highs. Frant Mata has scored six goals and assisted on four others while Daniel Castillo has scored four goals and assisted on two others. Daniel Benton, Eddie Dominguez and Gilbert Vega have each spent numrous minutes between the pipes for the Spartans, combining for a 1.38 team goals-against average.
Series Record vs. Loyola Marymount
Santa Clara's match with Loyola Marymount will mark the 19th all-time meeting between the two schools, with the Broncos holding a 15-2-1 advantage. Last season the Broncos registered a 1-0 win over the Lions in Buck Shaw Stadium, but the last two meetings away from Buck Shaw have been vastly different with the Lions picking up a 2-0 win in 1997 and a 1-1 tie in 1999. Overall the Broncos have outscored the Lions 58-9 since the two programs began playing each other in 1981.
Sizing Up the Lions
Loyola Marymount enters the final WCC contest on Saturday with a 9-5-2 overall record and a 2-2-1 conference mark. The Lions began the season 0-3 before running off a streak of nine straight unbeaten matches which included wins over Harvard and UCLA. The Lions have since cooled off, splitting their last four games, all of which were in league action.
The Lions are led offensively by Arturo Torres who has scored 11 goals and assisted on three others. Andres Murriagui is close behind, having scored six goals and assisted on five others. Dan Sheridan has taken the majority of the minutes between the pipes for LMU, making 15 saves while allowing only 15 goals for a 1.03 goals-against average.
Weekend Re-Cap
Santa Clara moved one step closer to claiming their eighth WCC Title with a 1-0 win over Saint Mary's on Sunday in Moraga, Calif. The Broncos played a stellar defensive game and got the game-winner from senior AnthonyChimienti who headed home his second goal of the season off a pass from freshman Jason Pan. Fellow freshman Steve Cronin picked up his first collegiate shutout against the Gaels as he was forced to make only two saves on six Saint Mary's shots.
Murray Closes in on Ninth 10-Win Season
The Broncos are only one win away from giving head coach Mitch Murray his ninth 10-win season of his career and fifth-straight. Murray has reach double-digit wins in nine of the 10 years he has been with Santa Clara, the only exception came in 1996 when the Bronco registered a 9-6-3 overall record.
What Happens If...
If the Broncos defeat Loyola Marymount they will earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament via winning the league title outright. If the Broncos lose to Loyola Marymount on Saturday, their season will be over. If the Broncos and Lions tie on Saturday, Santa Clara will claim a share of the WCC title with Portland and possibly Gonzaga. For three three-way tie to materialize, Gonzaga would also need to beat Saint Mary's on Sunday. If that scenario happens, Portland would hold the tiebreakers between the three schools and earn the autmatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. If Santa Clara loses and Gonzaga wins, the Bulldogs would hold the tiebreaker advantage over Portland, thus giving the Zags the automatic berth.
Statistically Speaking
The Broncos continue to outshoot their opponents by a large margin. Following Sunday's game with Saint Mary's, Santa Clara holds a 243-170 advantage in shots, and a 110-78 advantage in shots on goal. The Broncos have also outscored their opponents 16-14 and have a 0.78 goals-against average while their opponents have a 0.89 GAA.
Junior Jamil Walker has taken over the points lead for the Broncos after picking up his seventh point with an assist on Keith Burden's game-winner against Sacramento State. Senior captain Jeff Stewart trails closely behind with six points, but remains tied with Walker for the team lead in goals scored with three. Anthony Chimienti vaulted into the third spot on the Broncos scoring list for the 2001 season when he scored his second goal of the year against Saint Mary's. Combine the two goals with his one assist and Chimenti trails Walker by two points and Stewart by one. Back-up netminder Steve Cronin is fourth on the team in points with four,having scored one goal and assisted on two others.
Steve Cronin and Rusty Johnson have been stellar as usualy in goal for the Broncos, registering five shutouts while limiting their opponents to only four goals on the season . The tandem has a 0.79 combined goals-against average, led by Cronin's 0.69 average.
WCC Men's Soccer Standings (Through games of November 11)WCC Overall Team W L T Pts W L T Portland 4 1 1 13 11 5 1 Santa Clara 4 1 0 12 9 8 0 Gonzaga 3 1 1 10 8 4 2 LMU 2 2 1 7 9 5 2 San Diego 1 2 1 4 8 3 1 Saint Mary's 0 4 0 0 5 10 1 San Francisco 0 4 0 0 7 8 1
