SANTA CLARA, Calif.- The Bronco men's soccer team (3-5-0) begins West Coast Conference play in Southern California at San Diego (3-3-1) on Fri., Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. then again at LMU (4-2-1) on Sun., Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. The match vs. USD will be broadcast live on the new WCC Digital Network,, The W t.v., as the WCC Game of the Week.
"One of our goals for the year is to win the conference," said Bronco head coach Cameron Rast. "We played a good pre-conference schedule with a lot of games on the road which I think will help us out when we go on the road for conference games. Our conference is pretty solid this year and that is going to be a challenge but I think everyone is clear on what needs to be done and we're excited for this weekend."
The Broncos fell last week in a tight match at No. 2 California where the Golden Bears knocked in the game-winner in the first overtime period. The Bronco defense led by Mark Daus and Phillip Muscarella was relentless, holding off Cal's attack as they outshot the Broncos 14-4.
The Toreros, the 2012 WCC champions, are coming off a 2-1 win vs. Sacramento State where the two teams battled in shots 16-14 in favor of San Diego. Freshman Michael Turner leads the Toreros in points with one goal and three assists.
Last season when the two teams matched up for Santa Clara's WCC opener, the Broncos topped the Toreros 2-0 with second half goals by WCC Player of the Year Erik Hurtado and Carlos Montes. The Broncos outshot San Diego 14-8.
"We played San Diego last year in the first game of conference and the last game of conference," continued Rast. "We beat them both times but every year is a new year and it's a matter of going out and consistently playing well to earn results for the duration of the season."
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 his 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 by freshman Edson Cardona and a late game-winner by senior Harrison Hanley.
The Broncos fell to then-No. 2 California in overtime to finish up their non-conference play. The Broncos held the top ranked team scoreless for 100 minutes despite the Bear's consistent attack.
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).
Live Coverage
Live coverage of the game can be watched on The W t.v.
Go Broncos!
#OnAMission
