Sept. 26, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kirk Fonseca's goal in the 48th minute proved to the difference as fifth-ranked Santa Clara defeated No. 19-ranked Tulsa, 2-1, at the Swope Park Soccer Complex Friday afternoon. With the win the Broncos improve to 7-1-2 overall while dropping the Golden Hurrican to 6-3-0.
"This was an important battle for us," said head coach Cameron Rast. "We were coming off our first loss and it was good to see our guys play so hard and bounce back after a tough loss earlier in the week. I am very proud of them for that."
Fonseca scored the game-winner off a scramble in front of the Tulsa net, poking the ball past TU goalkeeper Terry Boss at 47:45. It was Fonseca's second goal of the season, with Matt Upton and Tannen Wells drawing the assists.
Tulsa took a 1-0 lead at 9:57 as Kyle Brown scored his fourth goal of the season, accepting a through ball from Ryan Pore and driving it past SCU goalkeeper Steve Cronin. Joseph Wear also ws credited with an assist.
That seemed to give the Golden Hurricane some confidence, but a poor defensive clearance by TU resulted in an own goal at 14:08 for Santa Clara and tied the contest.
From that point on, the Broncos were in complete control. In fact, Brown's goal was the lone shot Tulsa managed in the first half.
SCU outshot Tulsa 10-4. Cronin made one save in earning his seventh victory of the season, while Boss stopped five Broncos shots in taking his third loss of the campaign.
The Broncos return to action on Sunday with a mid-morning match against UMKC at 11 a.m. at Swope Park. Santa Clara is looking to avenge a 3-1 loss to the Kangaroos that occured during the SCU adidas Classic in 2000.