Nov. 15, 2006
Santa Clara, Calif. - Santa Clara Broncos sophomore Jide Ogunbiyi capped a wild game at Buck Shaw Stadium with the game-winning goal in overtime to give Santa Clara a 3-2 victory in the second round of the College Cup. With the win, SCU advances to the third round and will face the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 4:00 p.m. PT in Bloomington, Ind. Santa Clara jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Washington stormed back with two second-half goals to tie the score. Erik Ustruck and Brian Martin scored for Santa Clara before Ogunbiyi's overtime winner.
SCU burst out of the gate and applied heavy pressure to the Washington net in the early going. Nine minutes into the game, the Broncos had a flurry of chances and only bad luck and good goalkeeping kept the game scoreless. Captain Peter Lowry started the sequence as he fired a loose ball in the box off the post. Following a clearance by the Huskies, defender Jamil Roberts unloaded a blast from 35 yards out that appeared earmarked for the back of the net. However, Washington goalkeeper Rylan Hawkins leapt to tip the ball over the bar. On the ensuing corner kick freshman Amaechi Igwe, who played an excellent all-around game, curled a corner kick into the box that forced Hawkins to tip the ball off the crossbar. The ball was then cleared out by the Washington defense.
Igwe continued to be a thorn in the Huskies' side as he created three more great chances early on. He headed one wide from close range and followed that up with a brilliant run from midfield that got him free at the top of the box. His shot, however, skidded wide of the far post. In the 27th minute, he had another bid, but the far post again denied the Broncos a 1-0 lead.
Late in the first half, SCU finally broke through as senior Erik Ustruck scored his first goal of the season. Ogunbiyi found Matt Hatzke near the edge of the box and he got the ball to Ustruck 20 yards from goal. Ustruck ripped a shot that deflected off a Husky defender and found the back of the net to give the Broncos the lead that they had pushed for all night.
Santa Clara continued its strong play right after halftime and was rewarded again as Martin netted a goal from just inside the box. Keith DeVey started the play with a low cross into the box for Stephen McCarthy, who alertly touched the ball back to Martin. The sophomore forward made no mistake with the finish, blasting the ball past Hawkins for a 2-0 Bronco lead.
Just when the game seemed out of reach for Washington, the Huskies pulled one back off of a corner kick. Steve Mohn sent a corner into the heart of the box and it was knocked down among a crowd of players. The loose ball fell out to Matt Fischer and he volleyed a shot to the near post upper corner to bring Washington within one.
The Huskies then began to push forward with confidence looking for the equalizer. Bronco goalkeeper Josephn Buttitta was forced to make a big save on Ely Allen with 15 minutes remaining. But the Broncos All-WCC goalkeeper could not stop the next opportunity as Washington tied the game on another corner kick. Mohn sent another ball to the near post and it skimmed off the head of DeVey and snuck into the near post to bring the Huskies level with just under 10 minutes remaining.
In overtime, Santa Clara responded as it did all season with Ogunbiyi playing the role of hero on Wednesday night. After some nice work in midfield, Martin got the ball out wide and drove a perfect cross into the box. Ogunbiyi rose above his defender and put away a close-range header to send his teammates rushing onto the field and causing an eruption among the fans at Buck Shaw Stadium. The goal was Ogunbiyi's second of the year.
The Broncos now travel to Indiana looking to avenge their loss to the Hoosiers in the 2003 College Cup semifinals. Indiana won that game 1-0 in overtime in Columbus, Ohio.
