Santa Clara-California Square Off Thursday Night

TICKETS (BUY NOW!)
Season tickets for both men's and women's soccer programs start at $50 for adults and $25 for youth and seniors. Additionally, the 'Family Plan' provides five tickets to every home game for the sport of your choice.  For just $100, a family of five can watch every SCU men's soccer match. To buy tickets online click here, or visit the Leavey Center ticket office (500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, Calif.) or by calling directly at 408-554-4660.

LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday's game will be broadcast live online via Santa Clara's official athletic website (SantaClaraBroncos.com). Charles Wollin (play-by-play) will call the action live from Buck Shaw Stadium. The fee to watch SCU soccer online is $29.95 for the entire home season or $7.95 per match.  Additionally, a FREE live scoring feed will be available on (SantaClaraBroncos.com).

SANTA CLARA (2-2-0)
The Broncos picked up a big win Sunday, beating Marquette on the road 2-0. The match marked the last of a four-game road swing to start the year, playing twice at the UC Irvine Collegiate Classic and twice at the Marquette Invitational. Ninth-year head coach Cameron Rast is starting just one senior and will rely heavily on underclassmen up front. Two exciting forwards to watch, sophomore Erik Hurtado and freshman Carlos Montes, have combined for 12 shots. The midfield is anchored by junior all-league honoree Brandon Zimmerman and veteran goalkeeper Kevin Klasila has posted two shutouts in four games. SCU is trying to end a two-year postseason drought after making the NCAA's postseason field 18 times, including five times under Rast.

#25 CALIFORNIA (2-1-1)
The Golden Bears jumped into the NSCAA Top 25 last week after opening the season beating No. 20 Indiana 2-1 and tying No. 18 Notre Dame 0-0 on the road. Each of Cal's first three games went into double overtime; the third was a 2-1 loss to St. Mary's last Friday. The Bears rebounded by drubbing UNLV 3-0 to improve to 2-1-1 on the young season. Cal was picked to finish third out of six teams in the Pac-10 Conference this season after a 9-8-1 campaign a year ago – which included a 3-1 victory over Santa Clara at home. Cal last went to the NCAA tournament in 2008 when it advanced into the third round.

SCU HEAD COACH CAMERON RAST
Santa Clara University alumnus Cameron Rast is in this ninth season at the helm of Bronco men's soccer. He has led his alma mater to five NCAA tournament appearances and three West Coast Conference titles. Six of his student-athletes have been named All-Americans and 13 have moved on to play professional soccer. A former All-America player on Santa Clara's National Championship team of 1989 and U.S. Olympic Team captain in 1992, Rast took over as SCU head coach in 2002 after eight seasons as an assistant coach. Under his guidance the Broncos won the WCC title in 2003 and claimed back-to-back conference championships in 2006 and 2007. Rast owns 95-49-29 career record at Santa Clara and is 49-12-16 all-time at Buck Shaw Stadium. 

QUOTABLES
"Very solid performance from our guys today," said Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast, after Sunday's victory over Marquette. "We got off to a great start and that set the tone, battling and putting on the pressure. Probably our best 90 minutes this year so far."

 
"It is definitely a different experience having my brother on the team," Bronco freshman Keigo Kameya told Santa Clara's official athletics website recently. "I always grew up watching his club games from the sidelines, but now I get to play with him on the field and that is really exciting. He has helped me adjust to collegiate soccer in many ways. Takahide told me that the speed and the level of play is a lot higher than in club soccer and everyone takes practice seriously. We are not competitive against each other just because we play different positions. I mainly play forward, but my brother, on the other hand, plays midfield."

EARLY-SEASON HONORS
All-Tournament Team @ Marquette Invitational (9/12)
Erik Hurtado
Brandon Zimmerman
All-Tournament Team @ UC Irvine Collegiate Classic (9/6)
Brandon Zimmerman
Carlos Montes

SANTA CLARA TRADITION
1 National Championship
5 College Cup Final Fours
18 NCAA Tournaments
52 Future Professionals
10 WCC Championships
8 Seasons of 15+ wins
4 Teams ranked No. 1 nationally
13 Teams ranked in top 5 nationally
208-78-35 at Buck Shaw Stadium
184-117-41 vs. WCC all-time

UP NEXT

The Bay Area Classic continues over the weekend; SCU plays at Sanford Sunday, September 19th at 6 p.m.

NEXT HOME GAME
Friday, September 24 when the Broncos host San Jose State at Buck Shaw Stadium. Kick-off is set for 5:30 p.m.