Click here to watch senior Mark Daus on the Bronco Weekly Sports Wrap
Written by Lauren Matheson '13
SANTA CLARA, Calif.— The Bronco men's soccer team (3-4-0) will travel to Cal to face the No. 2 Golden Bears (5-0-1) in their final non-conference match Fri., Sept. 27 at 4:30 p.m.
"Right now we are trying to compete against the best teams in the nation," said Bronco head coach Cameron Rast. "Cal is a great team. They are undefeated and it's always a tough game for us so I think it will be a great contest. We're still trying to learn as much as we can about ourselves as we head into conference play so this will be a perfect opportunity for us to do that as well."
The Broncos are coming off two wins last weekend at San Jose State and at UC Irvine. Both games were won in the last few minutes proving that the Broncos can battle until the final whistle.
"We're starting games stronger and finishing games stronger, competing the whole 90 minutes," added Rast. "What we've been talking about is getting stronger as the game goes on and we think we have a team that can do just that."
Cal is coming off of a two-win weekend vs. Colgate and College of Charleston where the Golden Bears knocked in three goals each game. Fifth-year senior Steve Birnbaum leads the team with 11 points for his five goals and one assist in the season.
Last season when the two teams matched up, the Golden Bears topped the Broncos 2-1 in a tight game at Buck Shaw Stadium. Glenn Vass scored the lone-goal for the Broncos in the 72nd min., just seconds after Cal scored the deciding goal. The two teams were even in shots (7) and shots on goal (4).
2013 Season Review Thus Far
Santa Clara is pegged to win the West Coast Conference as voted by WCC head coaches in preseason polls and predicts senior Mark Daus and sophomore Ryan Masch to gain All-WCC team honors.
The Broncos started off slow as they fell in their first four matches against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, then-No. 19 University of Washington, Bay Area rival Stanford and then-No. 9 New Mexico making their record 0-4-0.
The Broncos claimed their first victory against Central Arkansas 2-0 with senior Keigo Kameya picking up is first goal of the season. The second goal was recorded as an own goal.
The Broncos kept the momentum going as they earned two more wins at San Jose State 1-0 with a late goal by sophomore James Huffer, and at UC Irvine 2-1 with a goal in the first half by freshman Edson Cardona and a late game-winner by senior Harrison Hanley.
Senior Carlos Montes notched the men's first goal of the season in the Broncos home opener vs. SIUE. Montes leads the Broncos in shots (11) and shots on goal (4).
Freshman Parker Holland saw his first minutes as a Bronco when the men traveled up north to play at Washington. Parker was able to tally up his first collegiate goal that game against former Bronco goalkeeper, Ryan Herman.
Live Coverage
Live stats of the Santa Clara vs. Cal game can be found on CalBears.com and tweeted updates can be found at @CalMensSoccer.
Go Broncos!
#OnAMission
