Men's Soccer Squares off with Michigan in Elite Eight

Men's Soccer Squares off with Michigan in Elite Eight

Dec. 3, 2003

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This Week: NCAA Fourth Round Match
Santa Clara, the 2003 West Coast Conference Champion, will take on 25th-ranked Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos advanced to the Elite Eight with victories over SMU, Loyola Marymount and Coastal Carolina. The Wolverines received a first round bye and advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Saint Peters and Notre Dame. Santa Clara and Michigan have never played against one another in men's soccer.

Scouting the Wolverines
Michigan enters Saturday's night matchup with a 14-6-1 overall record. They finished second in the Big Ten with their 5-1-0 record, finishing just behind fellow quarterfinal participant Indiana who ended the Big Ten season with a 5-0-1 mark. The Wolverines received a first round bye in the NCAA Tournament and defeated Saint Peter's in the second round by a score of 6-2. The third round proved more difficult by Michigan prevailed in South Bend, Indiana, advancing on penalty kicks over Notre Dame. After ending double overtime in a 1-1 tie, Michigan outlasted the Fighting Irish in PK's, edging them by a 4-3 count. Mychal Turpin leads the team in goals scored with 13 while Knox Cameron leads the team in scoring with 33 points, coming on 12 goals and nine assists. Peter Dzubay has taken all but 165 minutes between the pipes for Michigan, posting a 1.38 goals-against average on the season. As a team, Michigan has outscored its opponents by a 48-28 margin.

There is No Place Like Home
Santa Clara improved to 7-0-2 at home in 2003 and extended their home unbeaten streak to 13, with its 3-2 overtime victory over No. 12 Coastal Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. SCU advanced to the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament by claiming a 4-1 victory in penalty kicks over No. 15 SMU after the score was knotted at one apiece after double overtime. The Broncos' last loss at "The Shaw" came on September 26, 2002 to California. SCU's all-time record at Buck Shaw is now 174-67-21, which is a .704 winning percentage. Since the WCC began sponsoring soccer in 1988, Santa Clara has dominated at home, registering a 120-24-12 (.808 win percentage) overall record at Buck Shaw, including a 32-4-3 (.813 win percentage) against WCC teams. Only San Diego (2), San Francisco and Portland have ever won a league match at Buck Shaw Stadium San Francisco (2) and Portland are responsible for the three ties in conference games at SCU.

How Can You Not Like Overtime?
Unlike many others around the country, Santa Clara seems very comfortable in overtime matches this season. The Broncos have played in seven overtime matches in 2003 and have a 3-0-4 record in those matches. One of those overtime ties ended up as a win, as the Broncos advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-1 win in penalty kicks following its double-overtime tie with No. 15 SMU.

Weatherly Earns Academic All-District VIII Honors
Santa Clara University men's soccer midfielder Will Weatherly was named to the 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-American All-District VIII First Team on November 13. The junior from Bellevue, Wash., currently leads the team in points (14) and goals scored (6) while maintaining a 3.64 overall grade point average in Accounting. With his selection to the All-District VIII team, Weatherly earns a spot on the national ballot for Academic All-American. If selected he will join former Broncos Jack Zwissig (1971) and Eric Yamamoto (1987, 88, 89) as the only players to be selected to the Academic All-American team. Yamamoto is currently in his 13th season as an assistant coach for Santa Clara.

Only Santa Clara Remains of WCC Teams in Tournament
The West Coast Conference placed four teams into the NCAA tournament this season. Along with the Pac-10, the WCC's four bids were the third most for any conference as the Big East and ACC each got in five teams. Santa Clara and Portland advanced after first round wins while San Diego and Loyola Marymount received first round byes. While SCU defeated LMU in round two, San Diego was ousted in penalty kicks by Creighton and Portland lost to Washington by a 1-0 score. Since 1996 no other school in the WCC other than Santa Clara has advanced past the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos have now done it three times since 1996, as they advanced to the College Cup in both 1998 and 1999. The last time that a team other than SCU advanced past the second round was in 1995 when Portland defeated the Broncos in the third round.

Broncos Grab Postseason Honors
The Santa Clara University men's soccer team had five of its players earn spots on the 2003 All-West Coast Conference teams while head coach Cameron Rast was named the WCC Coach of the Year on Wednesday. Rast earns Coach of the Year honors in only his second season at the helm of his alma mater. He guided the Broncos to a 5-1-0 mark in league play, earning the 2003 WCC Championship. He led SCU to a top-10 ranking for most of the year, currently at No. 6 according to Soccer America, and will take the squad into the NCAA Tournament, which begins Friday evening at 7 p.m. against No. 15 SMU in Buck Shaw Stadium. Juniors Ryan Cochrane, Steve Cronin and Will Weatherly, who all fit that definition of talented student-athletes, secured first team honors following their standouts seasons. Cochrane helped the Broncos to a 0.65 goals-against average during the season while being named a Finalist for the M.A.C. Hermann Award, which will be announced at the College Cup. Cronin posted the league's best goals-against average with his 0.59 mark. His career goals-against average was lowered to 0.47 this season, giving him the second lowest mark in WCC history, second only to U.S. National Team keeper and former Portland standout Kasey Keller. Weatherly led the league in shots and paced the Broncos with his 14 points that came on six goals and two assists. His game-winning goal against San Diego secured the league title for the Broncos and gave them the conference's automatic berth into the postseason. Freshman Erik Ustruck earned second team All-WCC honors after the midfielder from Manchester, Mo., scored three goals in league play, all three of which were game-winners. Sophomore Kelechi Igwe rounded out the Bronco honorees as his honorable mention selection came after he tallied four goals and notched a team-high four assists in 2003. Rast's selection as WCC Coach of the Year is the fourth such honor for a SCU men's soccer head coach in the 15-year history of soccer in the conference. Steve Samson claimed the honor in 1989 while Mitch Murray, Rast's predecessor and mentor, earned the honor in both 1991 and 2001. He becomes the first person in WCC history to claim both an individual playing honor and the Coach of the Year honor. He earned WCC Defender of the year honors in both 1989 and 1991 while playing for the Broncos.

Cochrane and Cronin Leave for U.S. U-20 Team
Juniors Ryan Cochrane and Steve Cronin missed the second and third rounds of the NCAA Tournament and will miss the fourth round due to commitments with the U.S. U-20 National Team that is participating in the FIFA World Youth Championships that are currently being held in the United Arab Emirates. Both were first team All-WCC members and key cogs to the Bronco defense. Cronin led the WCC in goals-against average with his 0.60 mark, allowing only 11 goals all season in nearly 1,150 minutes between the pipes. Cochrane anchored the Bronco defense and was a candidate for conference player of the year honors. He was a Socccer America Freshman All-American in 2001 and a honorable mention All-American in 2002. The duo helped the U.S. to a 3-1 victory over Paraguay in the first round of the tournament, but were bested by Germany, 3-1, in Tuesday morning's second match.

In It to Win It
Santa Clara's longstanding tradition of success in the NCAA Tournament is continuing in 2003. The Broncos have an 18-11-4 overall record after Wednesday afternoon's 1-0 win over Loyola Marymount. Of the four Santa Clara ties in postseason play, the Broncos have advanced twice on penalty kicks, including a 4-1 penalty kick win this year over SMU, and fallen just once. The other match was declared a tie in 1989 giving both SCU and Virginia a share of the National Championship.

Rast in Elite Company
Second year head coach Cameron Rast became only the second head coach in Santa Clara men's soccer history to win 10 games in his first two years at the helm of the program. He joins his predecessor and mentor Mitch Murray as the only two to have accomplished the feat. Rast is now 23-8-4 overall after going 10-6-1 in his first year while Murray posted records of 20-1-2 and 10-7-1 in his first two campaigns. Former coaches Dave Chaplik (1972-80), Ralph Perez (1981-85) and Steve Sampson (1986-90) all posted 10 wins in two of their first three seasons, but did not posted back-to-back 10-win years to begin their coaching careers on the Mission Campus.

NCAA Third Round Recap - SCU 3, Coastal Carolina 2 (OT)
Will Weatherly's seventh goal of the season came in the fifth minute of the first overtime to lift No. 6 Santa Clara to a 3-2 victory over No. 12 Coastal Carolina in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Sunday afternoon at Buck Shaw Stadium. The game-winner off Weatherly's foot came off a throw in from the left side that was taken by Matt Upton. The throw slid across the box and deflected off a Coastal Carolina defender on to the waiting foot of Weatherly who one-timed the ball into the left side of the net for the Bronco victory. SCU improves to 15-3-4 in 2003 while their all-time record in NCAA play goes to 19-11-4. The Broncos also saw their home unbeaten streak increase to 13 matches, with an 11-0-2 record during that time in a streak that dates back to September 26, 2002. Coastal Carolina's season ends with an overall record of 20-3-0. Santa Clara's overtime victory was made possible by junior Jason Pan whose free kick with 3:57 remaining on the clock found the back of the net to tie the score at two apiece. His penalty re-start came from just outside the penalty area as he powered the ball into the right corner of the goal. The Broncos knotted the score up at one apiece on freshman Tannen Wels' fourth goal of the season as he took a crossing pass from Will Weatherly and kicked the ball into the back of the net while sliding inside the six-yard box. Coastal Carolina took an early 1-0 lead in the third minute of the game as Joshelp Ngwenya headed home a corner kick from teammate Randy Owen to begin the scoring onslaught. Ngwenya added his 21st goal of the season in the 72nd minute to take a 2-1 lead when he took a long ball from Chris Moore and beat two Broncos to the ball where he lobbed a shot over the oncoming keeper. Despite being beat twice for goals, Santa Clara keeper Kent Harkness made three critical second half saves that kept the match close. Coastal's Andrew Paxton made five saves on the day, three of which were in the first half. For the first time all season, the Chanticleers were out-shot in a match as the Broncos took 13, compared to only 12 for CCU. Coastal Carolina did take more in the second half and overtime periods, out-shooting the Broncos by a 10-5 margin in the final two stanzas.

NCAA Second Round Recap - SCU 1, LMU 0 (OT)
Eric Irvine headed home the game-winning goal in the eighth minute of overtime, propelling the Santa Clara University men's soccer team to the third round of the NCAA Tournament with its 1-0 victory over West Coast Conference rival Loyola Marymount Wednesday afternoon at Sullivan Field. Senior captain Matt Upton created room for the game-winner as he took a crossing pass from the left side and headed the ball that deflected off the crossbar to a waiting Irvine who powered the ball home for the Bronco victory. The goal was Irvine's third of the year. With the win the Broncos avenge their only loss in league play and move their season record to 14-3-4 while ending the Lions' season at 12-7-1. 20 first half fouls dominated play in the beginning as both teams manged four shots in the first stanza. Santa Clara controlled more of the play in the second half as they took five more shots than LMU, forcing Lion netminder Shaun Kalnasy to make five saves to keep the score knotted at zero. Santa Clara goalkeeper Kent Harkness picked up his second shutout of the year on Sullivan Field as he was between the pipes in the Broncos' 0-0 draw with then No. 7 Creighton at the LMU Fall Classic in early September. Harkness made only one save on the day, but it was a big one as head prevented a point blank header from reaching the back of the net in the second half. The Broncos attacked from all angles on the day as Jason Pan, Jason Cunliffe, Matt Upton and Will Weatherly all had multiple shots on the afternoon. Ryan Purtell also figured in the attack as the defender was dominant in the air and proved dangerous in the box on corner kicks and set pieces, creating chances for not only himself but for those around him on the second ball. SCU improved to 18-11-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play with the win and increase their all-time series record against LMU to 21-3-1. The Broncos advance to the third round for the fifth time in program history and first since their back-to-back College Cup appearances in 1998 and 1999.

NCAA First Round Recap - SCU 1, SMU 1 (SCU advances 4-1 on PK's)
The sixth-ranked Santa Clara University men's soccer team kept its perfect home season intact with a 1-1 double overtime tie against 15th-ranked SMU to open the 2003 NCAA Championship tonight at Buck Shaw Stadium, prevailing in penalty kicks 4-1. Junior goalkeeper Steve Cronin kicked home the game-winning score in the shoot-out, as Santa Clara's home record improved to 6-0-2 this season at the Shaw, and 10-0-2 in its last 12 home matches. The Broncos' overall record improves to 13-3-4. The match was physical, with four yellow cards and 54 fouls shared between the teams. The first half was played evenly, as SCU only had a 4-3 shot advantage at intermission. Santa Clara opened scoring in the 65th minute when Kirk Fonseca's cross was redirected by Erik Ustruck to the far post. It was his fourth goal of the season. SMU had a strong opportunity just a minute later, when reserve Dario Saintus took a sharply-angled shot from the right that rolled in front of the goal mouth and just wide of the left post. The Mustangs kept attacking and scored 10 minutes later, at 76:31, when Juke Hashimoto's cross drew Cronin out of the goal. Colin Clark beat Cronin to the ball, and netted his shot into the lower left corner to even the match. The match went into overtime, with Saintus taking a shot that required a diving stop by Cronin midway through the first extra period. Santa Clara took two shots in the second overtime, including a direct kick by Jason Pan with just under a minute left. His shot was saved by Erick Foss, sending the match into penalty kicks. Ryan Cochrane took the first shot of the shootout, scoring with his right foot to the left corner. Cronin then stopped David Chun's attempt, catching a waist-high attempt to his right. Eric Irvine put the Broncos up 2-0 in the shoot-out with his right-footed shot to the upper right corner. His goal was countered by SMU's Mynor Gonzalez, who scored high with his left foot. Foss didn't attempt to guess Fonseca's shot, a grounder to the left corner that put SCU ahead 3-1 in the shoot-out. Cronin then stopped his second ball, diving low and to his left. Cronin then went on the offensive for the game-winning score. Santa Clara's win tonight also marked the second over the Mustangs this season, as the Broncos defeated SMU 3-1 in September. The Mustangs end their season with a 13-6-3 record. Santa Clara now holds a 4-1-1 advantage in the all-time series.

Cochrane Tabbed as a M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Award Semifinalist
Santa Clara University junior defender Ryan Cochrane was tabbed as one of 15 players to watch this season for the M.A.C Hermann Trophy that is presented annually to the top collegiate soccer player in the country. A preseason All-American selection prior to the start of the 2003 season, Cochrane is one of only four defenders on the Hermann Trophy watch list. He is also one of only two players from the West Coast on the list, joining UCLA midfielder Aaron Lopez Jr. A nominating committee consisting of conference representatives from each Division I conference will select a final ballot of the top 15 candidates in early November. The winners of the award are selected through voting by Division I collegiate coaches who are members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The winners will be announced in conjunction with the NCAA Men's College Cup in Columbus, Ohio, in December.

Head Coach Cameron Rast
Cameron Rast took over the helm of his Alma Matter in 2002, becoming only the sixth head coach in the 34-year history of the program. He guided the Broncos as a player from 1988-91, Rast scored 17 goals and assisted on 20 others. He was the team captain in 1989, leading the Broncos to a 20-0-3 record and the school's only men's NCAA National Championship. A knee injury forced Rast to sit out much of his junior season in 1990, but he returned to form his senior year in 1991. He and the Broncos returned to the national championship game, this time claiming the second-place trophy. Rast earned his second All-America honor, as did his twin brother and fellow Bronco defender Matt. In 1991, Rast was a finalist for both the Hermann Award and the Missouri Athletic Club Award, both given to the nation's top collegiate men's player. During his eight years as an assistant, Rast helped produce 67 All-West Coast Conference selections, seven All-Americans, five WCC Defenders of the Year, one WCC player of the year and numerous players that went on to a career in professional soccer. The Broncos amassed a record of 101-42-14 with five WCC titles and seven NCAA Tournament appearances. The height of Santa Clara soccer came in the late 1990's when Rast helped guide the Broncos to back-to-back College Cup appearances in 1998 and '99. In his first year at the helm of the program, Rast guided the Broncos to a 10-6-1 overall record and a 3-3-0 mark in the WCC. He had six players earn All-WCC honors and one honorable mention All-American selection in Ryan Cochrane.

2003 College Cup Information
The 2003 NCAA Men's College Cup will be held on Friday and Sunday, December 12 and 14 at the Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State University is serving as the host institution for the event. Tickets can be obtained at any Ticketmaster outlet or by calling 1-877-CREW-FAN. For additional information please go to NCAASports.com and click on Men's Soccer.