Nov. 2, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's soccer squad cruised to its first West Coast Conference victory of the season Saturday night, beating Bay Area rival Saint Mary's by a score of 4-1 in front of 867 fans in Buck Shaw Stadium.
The Broncos (7-6-1, 1-3-0 WCC) came out very lethargic in their pace of play and fell behind early as Adam Zielske scored his second goal of the year at the 12:36 mark when he took a deflected ball inside the goal box and slid it past Kent Harkness for a 1-0 lead. David Vedder was credited with an assist on a play that began when Harkness mishandled a Saint Mary's (4-11-3, 0-3-1 WCC) throw-in which led to the Zielske score.
The goal served as a wakeup call for Santa Clara who began peppering shots on the SMC netminder, Kuehu Kealii. The Broncos took eight shots in the first half and capitalized on one at the 21:56 mark when Jamil Walker headed home a Jason Cunliffe pass that was sent across on a corner kick play.
After intermission Santa Clara continued to take many shots on the Saint Mary's defense. Walker picked up his second goal of the game on another header, this time off a perfectly placed crossing pass from Kellen Gilmore, giving the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
At the 81:19 mark Walker registered his second hat trick of the season and only the sixth in Bronco history when he blasted home a shot from eight yards out off a Scott McLain feed. The third goal of the night gave Walker his 12th of the season and 19th for his career. The 12 goals in a single-season moved him into 5th place all-time at Santa Clara, while the 19 career goals places him in a tie for 8th.
The Broncos scored their fourth and final goal just three minutes later when Devin Skrade scored his first collegiate goal off another assist from McLain. Skrade broke behind the Saint Mary's defense, where McLain had led him perfectly into the box, and beat Kealii on the low right side for the 4-1 lead.
All-in-all Santa Clara out-shot the Gaels by a 21-5 margin. Saint Mary's did have a goal called back halfway through the second half as they were ruled offsides on a penalty re-start. The Gaels were caught offsides 11 times on the evening as the trapping Bronco defense continuously pushed forward all night long.
Santa Clara returns to action next Thursday afternoon as they travel to Sacramento, Calif., to face the Hornets of Sacramento State at 2:30 p.m. Following that match the Broncos will return home for their final two matches of the season against San Francisco and Loyola Marymount.
