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Broncos Beat Zags 1-0, WCC Men's Soccer Champion Will Be Determined Sunday

Hurtado, Erik
Hurtado, Erik

SPOKANE, Wash. – The West Coast Conference men's soccer title will come down the final day of the regular season on Sunday, as streaking Santa Clara won its fourth straight game, 1-0 over Gonzaga in Spokane, while league-leading St. Mary's held on to beat LMU 1-0 in Moraga.

Santa Clara (10-5-4; 6-4-1 WCC) will need to beat Portland Sunday and have St. Mary's (7-6-5; 6-3-2 WCC) either tie or lose to San Diego for the Broncos to move into the top spot.

"It was cold enough to snow up here, but did not snow, maybe it will be later, we will be in Portland by then," said Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast about Friday afternoon's game in Spokane. "(Gonzaga) played really well, frustrating us on the offensive end. The second half was a different story, we managed to control the ball for the majority of the second half."

Erik Hurtado scored for SCU on a transition goal at 55:22 when Michael Gates' thru ball found the all-league forward behind the Zags' defense. Hurtado was able to beat a charging goalkeeper and put the Broncos in front.

"As the game wore on, we sat in and made sure we had the numbers in our favor on defense," said Rast about the game's later stages. "We defended well and tried to take pressure off ourselves to close it out. The big thing today is we got stronger as the game progressed, which is really important at this stage of the season."

Fans can watch Sunday afternoon's game at Portland for FREE by clicking here: Watch Live. The match is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

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