SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After an unsavory result on the road this past weekend, the Santa Clara men's soccer team looks to get back on the winning side with two West Coast Conference matches this weekend. On Halloween night, the Broncos (5-6-3, 1-1 WCC) head up to Stockton, Calif. to take on the Pacific Tigers (2-11, 0-2 WCC) at 7 p.m. Then the team goes up against Bay Area rival Saint Mary's (8-4-2, 1-1 WCC) on Sun., Nov. 2 at 2 p.m.
Fans can access live stats of the games courtesy of Pacific and Saint Mary's Athletics' websites.
"The goal for Friday is to be able to travel, play well, and win the game," said Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast. "Both games this weekend are very winnable, but both games will be very difficult. We hope to play well, do the things we've been working on in training, and if we do that, I think we will have a good shot at good results."
Going 1-1 in the opening weekend of conference play, Rast stresses keeping a positive mentality as a group. "We have everything to play for, everything is in our control so motivation needs to come within each player," said Rast. "Not just on the field but off the field, they need to be focused and have good energy. They will be ready because this is the part of the year we work so hard to get to."
The Broncos have recently lost to non-conference opponent then-No. 23 Maryland this past Saturday, 3-1. Sophomore Haru Kent scored his first collegiate goal against the Terps and was named College Sports Madness West Coast Player of the Week on Tues., Oct. 28.
Newcomer Carlos Delgadillo leads the team with three goals, three assists and 10 points on the season. He had the first goal against Portland on Sunday, Oct. 19 off of Ryan Masch's free kick, which was featured as the No. 3 Top Play of the Week for The W.tv on Oct. 21. Three other players add to the Broncos' offensive force with each tallying two goals and four points on the season: Max Ornstil, Edson Cardona and Steve Eneme. Four other Broncos have scored goals this year.
With Benjamin Kucera and Valdemar Andersen holding down the back line, the Bronco defense has shut out opponents four times this year and limits them to a .413 shots on goal percentage. Carl Carrwik had his first start this season as the Santa Clara goalkeeper against Maryland on Saturday and collected two saves during the match.
Scouting the Tigers
Santa Clara leads the all-time record 14-3-2 agianst the Tigers with the first meeting occurring in 1967. The last time the Broncos met the Tigers was in 1985. The 2014 season marks the first year the Pacific men's soccer program is a part of the WCC.
This season, the Tigers' defeated Cal Poly on the road on Sept. 21 by a score of 2-1. Then they tallied just their second victory of the year over UC Santa Cruz on Sept. 27, 4-0. Since then, Pacific has suffered loses to all of its WCC match-ups and is recently coming off of a 2-1 loss to San Diego on Oct. 19.
"Pacific is a new team so there are a lot of unknown things, such as what the environment is going to be like and what their team is going to be like," said Rast. "We have seen them on film and they are going be hardworking and tough to play. We hope to take advantage of any mistakes they make and create good quality interplay to force them into mistakes."
Pacific averages 1.2 goals scored per game and is led by freshman Tristan Blackmon. In his first year, Blackmon has collected an impressive 16 points with seven goals and two assists. He currently leads the WCC in goals. Another freshman, Tyson Fox has two goals for the Tigers for a total of six points. Pacific currently have 15 freshman listed on its roster.
Scouting the Gaels
Santa Clara has a long history with Saint Mary's dating back to 1968 when the first meeting between the two soccer programs commenced. The Broncos lead the all-time record against the Gaels, 40-6-6, and trumped them twice during the 2013 season.
"Once we get past Friday, we can start to focus on Sunday at Saint Mary's who's going to be a good and hard team to play," said Rast. "Our goals are to come through the weekend with good results because that will continue to have us in a position to win the conference and get into post-season play."
Saint Mary's has defeated two ranked teams this season with the first being a big win over then-No. 4 Washington on Sept. 7 by a score of 2-1 in overtime. Then on Sept. 24, the Gaels defeated then-No. 24 Florida Gulf Coast, 1-0. Most recently, they topped LMU, 2-0, in Los Angeles, Calif. last Sunday.
The Gaels have lost just twice in their last 12 matches, outscored opponents 19-18 and posted shutouts in three of their last four games. The team is led by Michael Semenza, who tallies four goals and four assists for 12 points in his senior season. Sophomore Carlo Eikani has scored three times for his team and Nathan Grixti, a freshman, has two goals on the season. Nine other Saint Mary's players have added to the goal count for the Gaels.
GAME NOTES – Fri., Oct. 31, 2014
Santa Clara vs. Pacific in Stockton, Calif. @ 7 p.m. (Knoles Soccer Field)
GAME NOTES – Sun., Nov. 2, 2014
Santa Clara vs. Saint Mary's in Moraga, Calif. @ 2 p.m. (Saint Mary's Stadium)
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