SAN JOSE, Calif.—The Bronco men's soccer team topped San Jose State 1-0 with late goal by James Huffer at San Jose Thursday night. The win puts the Broncos at 2-4-0 in the season and the Spartans at 0-5-1.
The Broncos will now travel down south to face UCI on Sun., Sept. 22 for a 5 p.m. game. The Anteaters (4-1-2) are coming off a 3-1 win over UCLA. Enrique Cardenas leads the team in points with four goals.
The shot count was close at 10-9 in favor of the Broncos and Santa Clara's goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh lead in saves at 3-1.
"It was a scrappy game," said Bronco head coach Cameron Rast. "Both teams were looking to do better in their seasons and trying to prove themselves. With that kind of intensity on this type of field it turned into a very disjointed game and a difficult game all around."
With the Broncos dominating the attack in the first half, the Spartans make their first challenge against the Broncos 14 minutes in. The ball was crossed into the Broncos box from the left flank to set up San Jose's Eric Mendez for a header shot that was quickly grabbed by McIntosh.
A long throw in by Santa Clara's Mark Daus gave the Broncos an opportunity 18 minutes into the game. Huffer headed the ball to the feet of Keigo Kameya for a shot on goal that was hit wide.
After a scoreless first half, Santa Clara's Max Ornstil had the first shot of the second half from inside the box in the 54th min. that was sent over the net.
With 23:41 left in the game, a red card ejection was issued to San Jose State's Dylan West. The Spartans played the remainder of the game with 10 players on the field.
Later, a red card ejection was issued to Santa Clara's Phillip Muscarella after going in late to a tackle. The Broncos played the remainder of the game with 10 players on the field.
The Broncos notched the game winner with 6:26 on the clock as David Torres dribbled down the left flank with pace to lay it off in front of the Spartan's net to Huffer who poked it in the back of the net to make the score 1-0.
"David made a great run in behind and James made a good hard run away and then a good hard run towards the ball and was just able to get a good flick on it," said Rast. "His timing was right and that's what James will do a lot more for us."
Rast liked the way the team kept battling at San Jose State and expects more of the same at UC Irvine this weekend. "UCI is particularly good at home, they like to open up and play a free flowing style," said Rast. "We've played them a couple times and I think the last time we played them it didn't go so well for us. They have had some good results this year and I think it will be a great test for us to see if we can play well on the road and execute in the moments that we need to."
Game Notes: A yellow card caution was issued to Santa Clara's Mark Daus and Matt Steurer … a yellow card caution was issued to San Jose State's Frankie Beauchamp
