SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer hosts Pacific in a midweek West Coast Conference contest at a rescheduled date on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Stevens Stadium. The match was
originally scheduled for Tuesday.
The Broncos are coming off a 4-2 win over Saint Mary's last Saturday to earn its second conference win of the season (2-9-0 overall, 2-0-0 WCC). The Tigers (8-3-0, 0-1-0 WCC) last played on Oct. 7 at Portland, losing 3-1 in the lone conference match its played this season. The Tigers' originally scheduled conference match against San Francisco on Oct. 13 was postponed due to poor air quality stemming from the wildfires that are burning across Northern California.
Santa Clara Athletics will honor Terry Weekes, a former goalkeeper and a 1994 Santa Clara Athletics Hall of Fame enshrinee, in a pregame ceremony. Weekes is
one of three Bronco greats to be recognized, with David Palic having his honor jersey presented last weekend.
SERIES HISTORY
Santa Clara is 15-3-4 all-time against Pacific with the first meeting coming in 1967. The last meeting between the two programs occurred in 2016 resulting in a 1-1 draw at Knoles Field. The Broncos struck first on a
Carlos Delgadillo header in the 21st minute before Pacific tied it a minute later.
THE BRONCOS (2-9-0, 2-0-0 WCC)
Santa Clara improved to 2-0-0 in West Coast Conference play with its 4-2 win over Saint Mary's at home on Saturday night. The Broncos scored three first half goals against a Saint Mary's team that had allowed just 11 goals in 11 games coming into the match. Two of the goals came on penalty kicks by
Valdemar Andersen and
Javier Ruiz Duran with another on a Gaels own goal. Saint Mary's answered back with two goals to make it a 3-2 game but
Carlos Delgadillo closed out the game with a goal in the last minute of the match.
A challenging nonconference schedule appears to have prepared the Broncos well for conference play. During nonconference, Santa Clara played two teams ranked top-six in the country (#6-Maryland and #1-Indiana) along with facing five straight opponents (SMU, Seattle, Washington, Cal and Indiana) that at least received votes in the top-25 poll two weeks ago.
With a goal last weekend, Carlos Delgdillo took the team lead in goals scored with five, one ahead of
Valdemar Andersen who also scored over the weekend. Both Delgadillo and Andersen have scored a goal in each of the two conference matches. In all, seven different Broncos have scored a goal this season tallying 18 goals in total.
Delgadillo's goal moved him into sole position of eighth place moving past Peter Lowry (2004-07) for the most career goals in Bronco history with 23. Next up for the senior, Anthony Chimienti (1998-01) with 25 goals.
For the season, the Broncos have started four goalkeepers.
Henning Jolivet has led the way starting six matches allowing 17 goals while making 23 saves. However,
Dakota Havlick has started the last two matches after starting the season opener, for a total of three starts on the season. Havlick has a 2.33 goal-against average.
Seamus Hudnut started the second match, allowing two goals while being credited with one save. And in the third match,
Aran O'Brien allowed two goals and making four saves.
THE TIGERS (8-3-0, 0-1-0 WCC)
Pacific is coming off a 13-4-2 record in 2016 following a 1-15-1 record in 2015 to cap off the best win-loss turnaround in NCAA History along with South Alabama (1980: 1-11, 1981: 15-2-2) and San José State (1999: 7-11-2, 2000: 20-1-1). The Tigers have kept its historic momentum going by posting a 8-3-0 record thus far in 2017. Pacific seeks to make it back into the NCAA tournament this season after advancing to the second round in 2016, in their first tournament appearance.
The Tigers have allowed just 11 goals all season in 11 matches. Senior Curtis Goldsmith has started every minute at the goalkeeping position, having a 1.00 GAA and credited with four clean sheets.
Offensively, Camden Riley, Tariq Branche and Anthony Orendain lead the Tigers scoring with three goals apiece. Alfredo Alcala leads the team in assists with three and is tied with Riley for the team lead in points with seven.
Eleven players in all have scored a goal for a total of 20 goals this season.
Tickets: Single-game tickets are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Gates to Stevens Stadium, as well as its ticket office, are open one hour prior to the start of the match.
Tickets purchased for Tuesday's match will be valid for Wednesday's match. If patrons are unable to attend the match, they may contact the Santa Clara Athletics ticket office at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu to exchange for a future men's soccer regular season contest.
Promotions: Tie Dye Night - All fans are welcome to tie dye a Santa Clara soccer t-shirt in the Stevens Stadium entrance plaza. The promotion will run until the end of halftime or while supplies last.
Parking: For weekday matches, the Leavey Center lot, located on Accolti Way off El Camino Real, is free beginning one hour prior to kickoff. Any other parking facility on campus will be subject to normal daily rates or restrictions, including the main structure, located adjacent to Stevens Stadium on Palm Drive. During the weekend, campus parking facilities are free (except for permit required locations). Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.
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