Sept. 12, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The sixth-ranked Santa Clara University men's soccer team ran its season-opening unbeaten streak to five with a 1-0 victory over Holy Cross Friday evening in the first game of the USF/Diadora Classic hosted by San Francisco. The Broncos improve to 4-0-1 on the year while dropping the Crusaders to 0-3-0.
Defense was the name of the game for Santa Clara on the evening as they held Holy Cross to four shots, only one of which needed to be saved by Bronco netminder Steve Cronin. Thus far in 2003, SCU has allowed only one goal in 470 minutes of play.
"We got the desired outcome, but the effort wasn't there for the entire game," said head coach Cameron Rast. "We try to learn something from every game and I think we learned a good lesson tonight in that we cannot underestimate any opponent. This will make us a better team as the season progresses."
Redshirt freshman Keith DeVey notched his second goal of the year in the 50th minute, giving the Broncos a 1-0 lead. Fellow freshman Tannen Wels picked up the assist as he sent the ball across the middle from about 30 yards out on the right side and had the ball deflected and change directions off a Holy Cross defender's foot. DeVey was able to collect the deflection and sneak behind the Crusaders' defense and slip the ball into the lower right hand portion of the net, beating Richard Whipple between the pipes.
Cronin's lone save was a big one as the junior made a diving stop off a header from the Crusaders late in the first half. The shutout was his third of the year and eighth of his career.
Santa Clara returns to action on Sunday with a game at California. Kickoff from the Berkeley campus is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. as it will be a game that follows the Cal women's game that begins at 1 p.m.