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SANTA CLARA, Calif.  – The Santa Clara University men's soccer team will play two important road matches this week in Southern California. After a 2-0 start in league play, the reigning West Coast Conference champs were ranked No. 18 nationally before dropping a pair of rivalry games last week. The Broncos will look to bounce back when they face LMU Friday afternoon at 3 p.m., then San Diego on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Week #8 - Oct. 10, 2011-Oct. 16
SANTA CLARA (6-3-3; 2-2 WCC) @ LMU (3-9; 1-3 WCC)
Friday, Oct. 14, 2011 • 3 p.m.
Game #13 • Road Game #4 • Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stats
SANTA CLARA @ SAN DIEGO (5-5-1; 2-1-1 WCC)*
Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011 • 2 p.m.
Game #14 • Road Game #5 • San Diego, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats

*USD will host USF Friday night at 7 p.m.

WEEKLY NOTES
* Cameron Rast is in his tenth season as Santa Clara head coach (109-56-37) 
* Santa Clara was ranked No. 18 last week before losing two-straight
* The Broncos have more wins (6) than any team in the WCC
* SCU is 1-1-1 on the road, playing 9 of its 12 games at home thus far
* LMU, USD and SCU were picked 1-2-3 in the league's preseason poll
* Junior attacker Erik Hurtado was named the WCC Player of the Month (Sept.)
* SCU leads the WCC in goals (1.4 p/g), shots (15.4 p/g) and points (3.8 p/g)
* The Broncos are 10-5-2 all-time at LMU, and beat the Lions 2-1 last season in LA
* LMU is off to 1-3 start in league play and is 3-9 overall
* The Lions snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating UP 3-2 Sunday
* SCU has taken only one loss to USD in the last 13 meetings
* San Diego is coming off a road split, losing at GU (2-3), then beating UP (1-0)

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 109-56-37 career record and is 57-16-21 all-time at SCU's Buck Shaw Stadium.

SANTA CLARA
The Broncos (6-3-3; 2-2 WCC) trip to Southern California marks the team's first true road trip of the year. Playing the majority of its games at home, SCU went unbeaten throughout the majority of September and climbed into the national rankings, coming in as high as No. 18 by College Soccer News. Offensive leader Erik Hurtado was named the league's September Player of the Month and he continues to lead the WCC in goals (5), shots (51), points (14) and is tied for the league-lead in assists (4). SCU looks to be on the verge of overcoming a series of injuries to key players. All-WCC forward Eric Masch and senior classmates F Connor Mitchell and MF David Castellanos are expected to play this weekend. As a group, the Bronco offense leads the WCC in shots (185), corner kicks (71), goals (17) and points (45).

LMU
Picked to win the league, the Lions (3-9; 1-3 WCC) lost seven straight from Sept. 11 to Oct. 7, but managed to snap that streak on the road at Portland on Sunday. Led by 14th-year head coach Paul Krumpe, LMU enjoyed one of its best-ever seasons in 2010, going 8-3-1 in conference play and claiming a share of the league-title. This season LMU has been shutout five times while allowing a league-high 20 goals. Friday night's game with SCU will be just the second home game for LMU since mid-September.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH LMU
After edging Loyola Marymount 2-1 last season in Los Angeles, Santa Clara improved their all-time record against the Lions to 23-8-5. Although both teams have recently kept the competition tight – ending four of the last six matches in a draw – a dry spell of 12-straight losses to the Broncos from 1983 through 1996 still haunts the Lions' overall record when playing Santa Clara.

SAN DIEGO
Led by long-time head coach Seamus McFadden, who has guided the Toreros to six WCC championships and 12 NCAA tournament appearances, USD is having another good season. The Toreros (5-5-1; 2-1-1 WCC) were picked to finish second in the WCC. Senior Stephen Posa and junior Patrick Wallen were tabbed two of the top forwards in the league. Wallen scored 12 goals last season en route to being named the WCC Player of the Year. He will look to improve on his two-goal total thus far in 2011. Wallen and Posa each have five points this season. Posa currently leads the Toreros in shots with 28.

ALL-TIME SERIES WITH USD
Santa Clara holds an all-time record of 26-10-4 when taking the field against San Diego. SCU is 10-6-1 at Torero Stadium, including a 2-1 win last season. Looking back at the series, USD failed to secure a victory against SCU between 1987-1994, landing them eight straight losses  - three of which were in OT. More recently, USD has only beat SCU once in the last 13 meetings.

HURTADO DRAWS BIG PRAISE FROM WCC
Erik Hurtado was named the West Coast Conference 'Player of the Month' for September. The junior forward was terrific during the month, earning back-to-back WCC 'Player of the Week' honors on Sept. 12 and 19. From Aug. 27 through Sept. 30, Hurtado totaled 40 shots, 12 points, four goals and four assists, which were all league-bests. Hurtado netted goals in four of five matches from Sept. 2 through 16, scoring against No. 6 UCLA, No. 14 Cal and tallied a career-high eight-shots in a 2-0 win over Cleveland State.

"What's unique about Erik is that he's just so explosive," Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast has said about Hurtado. "His ability to accelerate and the power in his game make (opponents) focus so much time and energy on him, defending him, worrying about him, because he can do things that most other collegiate players cannot."

QUOTABLE
"It's always hard to play on the road," said starting defender Gabriel Romero when asked about this weekend's trip to Southern California. "Your not only playing against the other team, you are playing against the fans and on a field you may not be used to. It's key to have the right mindset and to stay focused."

WCC STANDINGS (pts)
San Francisco 3-0-1 (10)/5-4-2
Saint Mary's 2-0-2 (8)/3-3-5
San Diego 2-1-1 (7)/5-5-1
Santa Clara 2-2 (6)/6-3-3
Gonzaga 2-2 (6)/4-6-1
LMU 1-3 (3)/3-9-0
Portland 0-4 (0)/5-6-1

This Week's Games:
Wednesday, Oct. 12
Portland @ Gonzaga 3 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 14
Gonzaga @ Saint Mary's 1 p.m.
Santa Clara @ Loyola Marymount 3 p.m.
San Francisco @ San Diego 7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 16
Portland @ Saint Mary's 2 p.m.
Santa Clara @ San Diego 2 p.m.
San Francisco @ Loyola Marymount 3 p.m.

IN THE RANKINGS
Santa Clara is receiving votes in the College Soccer News Top 30 and is ranked No. 10 in the latest NSCAA Far West Regional poll. SCU is also No. 40 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com 'Tournament 48' rankings. SCU has been ranked as high as No. 18 by CSN and No. 24 by the NSCAA and TopDrawerSoccer.com.

BRANDON ZIMMERMAN EARNS NATIONAL HONORS
Brandon Zimmerman, a senior midfielder from Pasco, Wash. was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's National Team of the Week (Oct. 2). Zimmerman bended-in the decisive goal in Santa Clara's pivotal 1-0 victory over Portland in both team's WCC opener on Sept. 30. Zimmerman, an All-WCC honoree in each of his three seasons at SCU, anchors the Bronco midfield. The Portland victory was followed by a 2-0 shutout win over Gonzaga on Oct. 1.

DID YOU KNOW?
Santa Clara has won five of the past 10 WCC titles (2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 and 2010).

PLAYING UP IN NON-CONFERENCE
Making the Broncos 4-1-3 non-conference record in 2011 that much more impressive, is considering who they played. The Broncos faced 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. New Mexico enters the week 9-0-2.

HURTADO/KLASILA NAMED WCC PLAYER'S OF THE WEEK
Through the first five weeks of play in 2011, the Broncos garnered three West Coast Conference 'Player of the Week' awards. On September 19, SCU junior attacker Erik Hurtado earned the honor of the second-straight time (Sept. 12 & Sept. 19). Hurtado, who continues to lead the league in most every offensive category, has emerged as an early candidate for the league's Player of the Year. His second award came after scoring and assisting in SCU's 4-2 road win at then-No. 14 Cal. Klasila drew recognition as the WCC Player of the Week on Aug. 29 after he shutout Stanford in the season-opener for both teams at Buck Shaw Stadium.

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.

ERIC MASCH TABBED FOR LOWE'S SENIOR CLASS AWARD
Santa Clara University final-year student-athlete Eric Masch has been selected as a candidate 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.

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 57-16-21 at home since he took over as head coach in 2002. The team is 216-82-40 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 (127) 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 33-15-16 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
216-82-40 at Buck Shaw Stadium
110-44-25 vs. WCC all-time
33-15-16 vs. WCC in last three seasons