Nov. 17, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 6th-ranked Santa Clara University men's soccer team was made aware of its NCAA postseason fate Monday as the Broncos were placed in a bracket that had them hosting 15th-ranked Southern Methodist University (13-6-2, 4-5-0 MVC) in a first round match Friday evening at 7 p.m. in Buck Shaw Stadium.
"We're excited that we are able to host the first round matchup," said second year head coach Cameron Rast. "Although the bracket might not indicate as much, we had a tremendous season and a very good record. What we need to do now is focus on getting ready for our match with SMU."
SCU, who won the 2003 West Coast Conference Championship and is the No. 2 ranked team in the Far West Region by the NSCAA, was not one of the 16 seeds who got a first round bye despite their 13-3-3 overall record and 5-1-0 mark in league play. The winner of Friday night's match at "The Shaw" will travel to Los Angeles to take on the 13th-seeded Loyola Marymount (12-6-1, 3-3-0 WCC) on Wednesday, November 26.
During the season Santa Clara faced nine teams in this year's NCAA Tournament, amassing a 4-3-2 record against those teams including a 3-1 win on September 7 against their first round opponent, SMU. The Broncos also posted wins over the 14th seeded Toreros of San Diego, Portland and Tulsa while notching ties with California and Creighton. Their only three losses of the year came to UMKC, San Jose State and their potential second round opponent, LMU.
The postseason appearance is the 14th in program history for the Broncos and first since the 2001 season where they advanced to the second round by beating California by a 1-0 score in triple-overtime. Santa Clara has four appearances in the College Cup with their lone National Championship coming in 1989 when they took home a share of the title with Virginia after playing to a 1-1 tie.