Oct. 14, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After watching his home country of Costa Rica join the United States and Mexico as the region's representatives in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Hector Guzman took to the pitch to make a mark of his own for the Santa Clara University Broncos.
Guzman scored a brace in the first half and Mutanda Kwesele recorded a goal in his first collegiate appearance to lead the Santa Clara men's soccer team to a convincing 3-0 victory over the University of Portland Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium.
With the win, ninth-ranked Santa Clara improved to 9-3-0 on the season and 3-1-0 in the West Coast Conference. Portland fell to 3-6-1 overall and 1-3-0 in league play. Both teams return to action Sunday with the Broncos hosting Gonzaga at 3 p.m.
The margin of victory was the largest for either team since SCU defeated the Pilots 4-0 in 1999 and marked only the fourth time in 26 meetings that either team won by three or more goals.
"Despite the appearance of the score, Portland really battled hard and gave great effort," said SCU's fourth-year head coach Cameron Rast. "They were missing a couple of players who would have contributed greatly. But, it was up to us to take advantage of opportunities to score and to put the game away when we had the chance. We were able to do that and I am really pleased with the way we played and for our players."
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Don't miss Sunday's soccer doubleheader. The 5th ranked SCU women host San Francisco at noon, followed by the 9th ranked men against Gonzaga at 3 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium.
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The Broncos bolted out of the gate quickly, getting a shot from Jeff Scott that was blocked out the end line for a corner kick just :17 seconds into the match. Guzman scored his first of two goals in the 17th minute on a beautiful bending shot that struck the upper right corner of the goal. Kelechi Igwe pushed the ball to the left side of the penalty area to earn the assist.
Less than seven minutes later, Guzman scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the season with a similar shot from the right side of the penalty area. Keith DeVey and Matt Hatzke were able to connect on a combination that went to Guzman and the Costa Rican nailed a shot into the left side of the goal.
The two teams battled throughout the next 64 minutes in a physical contest in which referee Steve Elliot arguably could have doubled the number of fouls called. The Pilots were whistled for 17 fouls in the game, while SCU registered 11. Santa Clara senior Cardiff Schmitz received the match's only yellow card in the 42nd minute.
Kwesele entered the game in the 85th minute and took a shot that sailed over the cross bar only a minute later. With less than :90 seconds remaining in the match, Ryan Wolfe found the freshman midfielder alone on the right side of the field just outside the penalty area. Kwesele took three quick touches and beat the onrushing defender and the keeper with a low shot that found the left corner of the goal.
""It was such a rush," said Kwesele, a native of Des Moines, Wash. who was born in Mufulira, Zambia. "The game gave our team a number of chances like the one I had and we took advantage of them. It felt really great to score in my first match. I was really surprised I was so open."
In the 81st minute, following an offsides call on the Pilots, Portland's Bryan Irwin collided with Sweeney just inside the penalty area. Irwin was rushing to receive a pass that was quickly collected by the Bronco keeper and the two players went to the ground. Sweeney left the game just two minutes later with a sore leg and was replaced by Christopher Moreo.
"It was a physical game between two programs that have a history of playing some really great soccer against each other," said Rast. "It was good to get goals from Hector and Mutanda. It shows that we have more options offensively as the season progresses. I'm really pleased with Mutanda. It is a really special thing for him to score a goal in his first college game."
