The Bronco men's soccer team continues to train this spring, recently playing the MLS San Jose Earthquakes PDL team to a 0-0 tie. Next up, the Broncos will host Cal Poly at the 'Quakes Nutralite Facility on April 26 at 1 pm.
Bronco head coach Cameron Roast was pleased with the team's efforts vs. the 'Quakes PDL team, especially the first 30 minutes. "It became obvious that we needed to spend a bit more time on the attacking play of our team," said Rast.
Santa Clara's areas of focus for the winter and early spring this year were organizational shape and putting pressure to the ball with multiple players. Rast said the team was pretty good at both in the game with the PDL team.
The spring is a good chance for everyone to get some more formal playing time, especially for the Bronco players who didn't play a lot last season or were redshirted in 2013. A number of those players have also shifted positions. "Based on that, the game accomplished what we were looking for," said Rast.
The coaches felt the highlight of the match was the Broncos defensive attack. "We were able to control the flow of the match," said Rast.
Moving forward, the next phase for the Broncos to develop will be the ability to transition quickly into the attack. "We need to create more clear chances to score," said Rast. "In the end we need to find ways to win these games."
The Broncos were scheduled to play the Earthquakes first team on Tuesday, but that has been postponed so the Broncos look forward to their match vs. Cal Poly on Saturday.
Playing the Earthquakes PDL and first team is annually a plus for the Broncos as they prepare for the traditional fall season with their eyes on winning the WCC and receiving an NCAA bid. "Playing the Earthquakes gives our team a great opportunity to measure themselves against a top professional team," said Rast.
Rast said sharing Buck Shaw Stadium with the Earthquakes continues to be a great relationship for the Broncos. "We have players, coaches and support staff that we are able to interact with daily that allows us to talk about the latest trends in the game and what's going on in in the soccer world," said Rast. "This degree of contact gives us a distinct advantage over a lot of teams nationally with an MLS team right here in our building."
