SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Bouncing back from a loss on Friday night, the Santa Clara men's soccer team prevailed over Portland on Sunday afternoon with an exciting 2-1 win. The winning goal came in the 88th minute off of a free kick by Ryan Masch. The Broncos improve to 5-5-3 and 1-1 in West Coast Conference play while the Pilots move to 4-7-3 overall and 0-2 in the WCC.
"When things aren't going your way, you just have to maintain a level of reasonableness of what you are doing and stay committed to the fundamentals of the game," said Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast. "You have to always come ready to compete and stay true to the game plan. Our players stayed positive and were ready to work their tails off."
Rast is pleased with the direction the team is headed in the peak of the WCC season. "It's a step in the right direction and a step forward after Friday's result," said Rast. "In the end, we needed this and needed to continue to believe and stay true to what is important. All the credit to the guys today, great job."
The Broncos and the Pilots each had 13 shots over the 90-minute game. Santa Clara tallied seven shots on frame while the Pilots had six shots on goal. The Broncos' goals came from Carlos Delgadillo in the 18th minute and Masch in the 88th minute. Satoshi Chaffin, Edson Cardona and Alfie Edmonds also added to the Bronco attack today. Portland's goal came in the 86th minute by Eddie Sanchez when he followed up on his own blocked penalty kick. Goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh collected five saves during the match.
"I'm very happy for Ryan—what a come back for him," said Rast after the match. "He is a difference maker and we have missed him during the last year and a half because he changes games. I'm really proud of him today."
Against Portland, Santa Clara got off to a strong start in the 6th minute. A cross from Chaffin to Delgadillo created a good aggressive attempt, but resulted in a Bronco handball in the box. Five minutes last Matt Steurer's cross found Delgadillo in the middle of the box that was saved by Portland's Paul Christensen and gave the Broncos a corner kick opportunity.
Portland responded with a dangerous cross to Brandon Zambrano who then shot a low driven ball but was blocked by Valdemar Andersen in the 13th minute.
Santa Clara took the lead in the 18th minute from a free kick outside the left side of the 18-yard box. Masch played a skillful ball to the head of Delgadillo in the 6-yard box that found the back of the net. Broncos took the lead early, 1-0.
The posts were very friendly with the men's team this weekend. In the 24th minute, Steurer took a strike from the top of the 18-yard box that hit the left post. The Pilots responded ten minutes later with a long run by Michael Escobar, beating three Santa Clara players. His shot from the middle of the box went high.
The Broncos went into the locker room at halftime up 1-0.
In the second half, Cardona had a dangerous opportunity in the on a counter attack from a Portland corner kick. Delgadillo found Cardona running down the left wing and passed a great through ball. Cardona's first shot was blocked by a defensemen and his second attempt went just wide.
Santa Clara went down a man when Jared Hegardt was issued his second yellow card of the match in the 61st minute. The next 30 minutes would prove the Broncos determination and stamina. McIntosh set the tone with a great save that same minute when he denied Eddie Sanchez.
The Broncos kept up the offensive attack well in the second half with shots from Chaffin in the 82nd minute.
Portland was able to tie up the match in the 86th minute when Santa Clara gave up a foul in the box. Sanchez stepped up to take the penalty kick, but McIntosh put up a great block. Sanchez found the upper right corner of the net in his second try off of the rebound.
In thrilling fashion, Santa Clara was not ready to settle for a 1-1 tie. With just two minutes remaining in regulation, the Broncos had another free kick opportunity about 25 yards outside of the goal line. Masch stepped up to take the set play and ripped it into the back of the net, sealing the lead for his team in the 88th minute.
Santa Clara tallied its first win over a WCC opponent in the 2014 season on Sunday. Next up, the Broncos have their final non-conference match when they travel to Maryland on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. PST.
GAME NOTES: A total of 8 yellow card cautions and 1 red card were given.
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