Sept. 29, 2006
Santa Clara, Calif. - The 15th ranked Santa Clara men's soccer team fell behind by two goals in the first half in their West Coast Conference home-opener and could not come all the way back, falling 2-1 to Loyola Marymount at Buck Shaw Stadium. Freshman Ryan Brown scored a spectacular goal early in the second half, but the Broncos (5-3-2) could not equalize the game and fell to 1-1-0 in conference play. Santa Clara's Matt Hatzke and Loyola Marymount's David Niemeyer both received red cards in the second half as both teams finished the game with 10 players.
Loyola Marymount came out strong right from the start and got the first goal of the game just nine minutes into the contest. Nick Blanco received the ball in the corner of the box and after some nifty moves was able to free himself on the end-line. He then cut a pass back to Diego Barrera, who found himself unmarked in the box. Barrera finished with a right-footed shot to the far post to put the Lions up 1-0.
The Broncos seemed energized after giving up the first goal and came back with three opportunities to even the score. In the 21st minute, freshman Amaechi Igwe's corner kick was knocked down to captain Peter Lowry one step inside the box. Lowry one-timed a shot to the far corner, but it deflected off a defender and bounded just past the post.
Two minutes later, Lowry created another chance off a free kick. After being fouled at the edge of the box, Lowry curled in a free kick from the left side that forced LMU goalkeeper Robert Flores into a diving save. The rebound fell to Hatzke, who blasted a shot, but Flores responded with another stop to keep Santa Clara from tying the game.
After withstanding the Broncos pressure, the Lions came back with their second goal, this time through a set piece. Junior Ybarra whipped in a free kick from the right wing to the penalty spot to Jawaam Delaney, who had managed to get free. Delaney powered a header to the left of Bronco goalkeeper Joseph Buttitta for a 2-0 LMU advantage.
The Broncos roared out of the halftime break and got one goal back through a brilliant individual effort from Brown. The Montclair, NJ resident received a pass at the left edge of the penalty box and found himself one-on-one with a Loyola Marymount defender. Brown blew by the defender with a quick move and then unleashed a shot that whistled into the far post upper corner.
Five minutes after the goal, the game took a dramatic turn, as Hatzke was shown a red card for a tough tackle on the left sideline. Hatzke and Loyola's Nick Blanco challenged for a 50-50 ball and Blanco came out of the challenge bloodied from the right boot of Hatzke. However, the Broncos would not be shorthanded for long as Niemeyer earned his second yellow card of the night for a nelbow on SCU's Brian Curry.
With both teams playing with only 10 men, Santa Clara desperately pushed forward looking for the equalizer. A Jeff Cosgriff flicked header was saved by Flores with 30 minuets to go followed by a Sean Danzeiser shot from 30 yards out that slid past the near post. The Broncos last gasp came on a turnaround shot by senior Keith DeVey that was not strong enough to slip by the alert Flores in the Lions' net.
SCU plays its second WCC game of the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 1 at Buck Shaw Stadium against the No. 10 Toreros of the University of San Diego. The game kicks off at 2:00 p.m. PT.
