FULLERTON, Calif. – In its lone match of the week, Santa Clara men's soccer fell to Cal State Fullerton 2-0 Friday night on the road.
The teams went to the halftime break scoreless but Fullerton (2-1) came out and scored a quick goal to jump on top of Santa Clara (0-3) before adding another late in the second half for some insurance.
The first score of the night came off a corner kick in the 51st minute. The ball was knocked down in the box and went to the feet of Ross McPhie inside the six-yard box. McPhie took a touch before turning and firing to give the Titans a 1-0 lead.
Just before the goal, Bronco keeper Aran O'Brien, who was making his collegiate debut, made back-to-back saves on two great chances for Fullerton. After the first save, a Titan got the rebound but O'Brien was able to deflect the shot away.
Another goal was added in the 74th by the Titans. Mark Hernandez dribbled around his defender on the left half of the field and sent a curving shot to the upper-right corner of the net.
The Broncos best scoring chance came near the end of the first half off the foot of Valdemar Andersen. A free kick was awarded to Santa Clara from 30 yards out in the 41st and was taken by Andersen who ripped his shot and only a nice save kept it from going in.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 13-10-2 all-time against Cal State Fullerton.
- The last meeting between the two teams in Fullerton was a 3-0 Bronco win in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
- O'Brien made four saves.
- Babacar Diallo made his season debut in the 77th minute.
- The Broncos have had three different starting goalkeepers in three matches.
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Santa Clara returns home to play Tulsa Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
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