Santa Clara's Interactive Virtual Guide

SANTA CLARA, Calif.  – The 'Bay Area Classic' men's soccer matchup between Santa Clara and California dates back to 1967 and Friday's 4 p.m. match at Edwards Stadium will mark the 47th time the teams will meet. Amazingly, SCU is looking for its first win in Berkeley since 1980.

There have been some thrilling games in the series, with SCU losing a heartbreaker via penalty kicks in the 2005 NCAA tournament's second round. In 2007, the Broncos scored with 42 seconds left to force a tie.

Week #4 - Sept. 12, 2011-Sept. 18
SANTA CLARA (3-1-1) @ CALIFORNIA (2-1-2)
Friday, Sept. 16, 2011 • 4 p.m.
Game #6 • Road Game #1 • Berkeley, Calif.
Live Scoring

GAME NOTES
* Cameron Rast is in his tenth season as Santa Clara head coach (106-54-35)
* Santa Clara will be playing its first road game
* Cal is currently ranked No. 14 nationally by College Soccer News
* Rast has never beaten Cal as a head coach and SCU has not won in Berkeley since 1980
* The two teams have a storied soccer tradition, combining for 35 NCAA tournament appearances, SCU (19) and Cal (16)
* Erik Hurtado, who scored in a 3-1 loss at Cal in 2009, was named the WCC Player of the Week on Monday
* The Broncos will be facing its third Pac-12 opponent, having beaten Stanford and tying then-No. 6 UCLA
* Cal began the year ranked No. 7 by the NSCAA but have slipped in the rankings after a 4-1 road loss to No. 2 UCONN and ties against Lehigh and Northwestern
* SCU's only loss this season was to New Mexico, who is now ranked No. 16
* The Broncos and senior goalkeeper Kevin Klasila, have shutout their last two opponents
* Team-leaders Klasila, Mykell Bates and Brandon Zimmerman are three of nine seniors which make up an experienced SCU group that returned all 11 starters from last year's WCC championship team
* The Broncos currently sit atop the WCC standings with a 3-1-1 record

HEAD COACH CAMERON RAST (10th-year)
Since taking over the Bronco men's soccer program nine years ago, SCU alumnus and Hall of Famer Cameron Rast has led his alma mater to six NCAA tournaments and four West Coast Conference Championships. He was a former All-America player on SCU's 1989 co-National Championship team and U.S. Olympic Team captain in 1992. He spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at SCU from 1994-2001. Last year, in 2010, his ninth year as SCU head coach, the Broncos won the WCC title. Rast has reached the 100-win milestone as a head coach and has moved into third place all-time in WCC coaching victories. The announcement of Rast being named the 2010 WCC 'Coach of the Year' marked the fourth time he has earned the honor. The Broncos advanced into the NCAA College Cup Final Four in 2006. He owns a 106-54-35 career record and is 55-15-20 all-time at SCU's Buck Shaw Stadium.

SANTA CLARA
The Broncos (3-1-1) received a career-high eights shots and a game-clinching goal from Erik Hurtado Sunday against Cleveland State to wrap up its season-opening five-game homestand. SCU's only loss came at the hands of a New Mexico team that is now ranked No. 16 by the NSCAA. The Broncos will be heavily tested in its next three matches, playing at No. 14 Cal on Friday, taking on a tough San Jose State team next Thursday, Sept. 22 at Spartan Stadium before hosting NCAA qualifier Harvard Sunday, Sept. 25 at Buck Shaw. The next two weeks lead up to the team's WCC opener against Portland on Friday, Sept. 30 at home. SCU is vying to win its sixth WCC title in the past 11 years and make its 20th trip to the NCAA's.

CALIFORNIA
The Golden Bears (2-1-2) were 14-2-4 last year, which included an 8-2-1 mark on their home field. Cal advanced into the NCAA tournament quarterfinals in 2010 and return 10 starters from that group. Cal began the year ranked No. 7 by the NSCAA but have slipped in the rankings after a 4-1 road loss to No. 2 UCONN and ties against Lehigh and Northwestern. However, 12th-year head coach Kevin Grimes is 130-72-27 overall at Cal and his team should have some momentum after a 3-2 home win over then-No. 15 Kentucky on Sunday.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH CAL
Santa Clara beat Cal in a game played at Burlingame High School in 1990, but the Broncos last true road win over Cal – and only road win in Berkeley on record - was back in 1980. In 46 all-time matches, Santa Clara's record currently stands at 11-27-8 against the Golden Bears. Since 2000 the Broncos are just 2-6-4 against Cal. Santa Clara's last win came back in 2001, a 1-0, three-overtime, NCAA match played at Stanford.  Cal and Santa Clara have met three times in NCAA tournament play, with each game going into overtime (SCU advancing in 2001, Cal in 2004 and 2005).

IN THE RANKINGS
Cal is currently ranked as high as No. 14 by College Soccer News and No. 19 by Soccer America. Santa Clara has been ranked as high as No. 24 nationally by TopDrawerSoccer.com this season. Cal was ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA preseason poll. Both teams are currently receiving votes in the most recent NSCAA Top 25. In the NSCAA Far West Regional Rankings Cal is No. 7 and SCU is No. 8.

HURTADO NAMED WCC POW – LEADS ALL WCC PLAYERS IN OFFENSE
Santa Clara junior forward Erik Hurtado was named the WCC 'Player of the Week' for September 12, 2011. The All-WCC attacker scored twice in wins over Nebraska-Omaha (4-0) and Cleveland State (2-0), helping the Broncos improve to 3-1-1 and move into first place in the league standings. He leads the WCC in most offensive categories, including goals (three), points (eight), shots (19) and shots on goal (11). He matched a career-high with five shots against New Mexico Sept. 4, then established a new career-high with eight shots against Cleveland State Sept. 11.

QUOTABLE
"So many of my assists come off corner kicks," said Brandon Zimmerman who set up SCU's winning goal over Cleveland State on Sunday. "The guys I play with make it real easy on me. (Bates) is so good in the air, if I even put it close to the right spot he is going to score. So that helps. Another guy that is easy to pass to is Hurtado. He is one of the fastest guys I have ever played with." - Zimmerman has been named an All-WCC player in each of his three seasons at SCU and has totaled 14 career assists.

BRONCOS AND THE MLS
Not only does the San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS rent out Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium to call home, the Broncos have had a storied history of future professionals wearing the SCU uniform. SCU was ranked among the top NCAA programs producing MLS talent, according to MLSsoccer.com. Santa Clara is tied for second all-time among schools on the West Coast, producing 17 players who have been drafted by MLS clubs, including Mehdi Ballouchy, drafted second overall in 2006.

MYKELL BATES NO. 8 PRO PROSPECT AMONG COLLEGE SENIORS
Santa Clara senior co-captain Mykell Bates was listed as the nation's No. 8 best pro prospect among college seniors according to TopDrawerSoccer.com. The online publication is showcasing Joe Mauceri's observations on 'Joe's Big Board', a listing of the top 100 prospects for professional soccer in the college senior class.

2011 WCC Men's Soccer Standings (Pts)
Santa Clara 3-1-1 (10)
San Diego 3-2-0 (9)
Portland 2-2-1 (7)
LMU 2-3-0 (6)
Saint Mary's 1-2-1 (4)
Gonzaga 1-2-0 (3)
San Francisco 1-4-0 (3)

Wednesday, Sept. 14
Seattle University @ Gonzaga 4 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 16
Sacramento State @ Saint Mary's 3 p.m.
San Jose State @ Loyola Marymount 3 p.m.
Santa Clara @ Cal 4 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 17
Oregon State @ Gonzaga 1 p.m.
San Francisco @ Stanford 7 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 18
Saint Mary's @ Cal State Bakersfield 5 p.m.
UCLA @ San Diego 5 p.m.

ERIC MASCH TABBED FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Santa Clara University final-year student-athlete Eric Masch has been selected as candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes the attributes of senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character and competition. From the list of 30 candidates, a national media committee will select ten finalists for the 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in early October.

DID YOU KNOW?
Santa Clara won 16 games in 2007 and 2003, which is the most wins in one season by any WCC team since 2000.

PLAYING UP
The Broncos are facing one of their toughest pre-conference tests in recent memory. Both UCLA and California advanced into the NCAA College Cup tournament's final eight last year, while New Mexico, Harvard and Stanford have been perennial NCAA qualifiers.

HOME SUCCESS
Contributing to the Broncos' strong soccer tradition is the team's home field advantage at Buck Shaw Stadium. Under Rast, the Broncos have gone 55-15-20 at home since he took over as head coach in 2002. The team is 214-80-38 all-time when playing at home, dating back to the program's first year of soccer in 1967.

THE WCC'S BEST TEAM (2010 CHAMPIONS)
The Broncos won the 2010 WCC Championship by posting a 7-1-4 conference record. No other WCC program has won more games (125) over the past decade or more WCC titles (5) than Santa Clara. Rast has been honored as the league's 'Coach of the Year' four times in his nine seasons and in the past three years, SCU is 31-13-16 against league opponents.

2011 PRESEASON AT US OLYMPIC TRAINING CENTER
Shortly after initiating its preseason training for the 2011 season, the Broncos traveled to Southern California for a week to practice at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

BATES, HURTADO NAMED 2011 PRESEASON ALL-WCC
Mykell Bates and Erik Hurtado were among ten student-athletes around the league named to the 2011 Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team. Hurtado has emerged as one of the nation's most dangerous scorers. The junior from Beaverton, Ore., was named a 2010 All-WCC First Team player and garnered National Player of the Week honors last November by College Soccer News (CSN). Bates was also named an All-WCC First Team honoree in 2010. The senior and three-year starting defender from Roseville, Calif., led the team in minutes played (1,852) as a sophomore and is serving as team captain for the second straight year.

2011 Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team
Name School Yr, Pos.
Mykell Bates SCU SR D
Roger Downes LMU SR D
Steven Evans POR SO MF
Doug Herrick SMC SR GK
Erik Hurtado SCU JR F
Artur Jozkowicz LMU SR F/MF
Ryan Kawulok POR SR D
James Matern GON RSO MF
Stephen Posa USD SR F
Patrick Wallen USD SR F

FINAL WCC STANDINGS (2010)
Place Team WCC Record (Points)/Overall Record
T1. Santa Clara* 7-1-4 (25)/10-6-5
T1. LMU 8-3-1 (25)/12-6-2
3. Portland 6-3-3 (21)/9-4-6
4. San Diego 6-4-2 (20)/9-7-3
5. St. Mary's 6-6-0 (18)/10-8-1
6. San Francisco 2-8-2 (8)/4-12-3
7. Gonzaga 1-11-0 (3)/4-15-0

*Santa Clara claimed tiebreaker and WCC's automatic NCAA Tournament berth

SCU SOCCER TRADITION
1 National Championship
5 College Cup Final Fours
19 NCAA Tournaments
52 Future Professionals
11 WCC Championships
8 Seasons of 15+ wins
4 Teams ranked No. 1 nationally
13 Teams ranked in top 5 nationally
214-81-39 at Buck Shaw Stadium
108-42-25 vs. WCC all-time
31-13-16 vs. WCC in last three seasons