Oct. 3, 2008
PORTLAND - The Santa Clara men's soccer team lost a hard-fought 4-1 battle to Portland Friday night in the West Coast Conference opener. With the loss, the Broncos dropped to 2-5-2 on the season and 0-1-0 in WCC action, while the Pilots improved to 4-3-2 overall and 1-1-0 in the league.
Brayton Knapp began the scoring for the Pilots with his very first strike of the season in the sixth minute. He took advantage of a failed SCU clear and sent the ball to the low right side of the net.
The Broncos eventually responded 30 minutes later. The play began when Connor Mitchell made a run down the right side of the field to the end line. Mitchell then fed Murphy Campbell at the top of the box. Campbell one-touched a pass to Kellen Wantulok, who evened the score at 1-1 with a shot to the upper right corner. It was Wantulok's first goal of the season and third career strike.
Both teams were held scoreless until the final minute of the first half when Knapp found Leland Wright. Wright crossed in front of the goal to Bryan Irwin, who headed in the ball for what would be the game-winning goal. Portland scored twice more in the second half. Irwin scored goal No. 2 of the evening after beating Bronco keeper Jeremy Del Re inside the left post. The final goal of the night was scored by Frankie Lopez in the 69th minute. Lopez buried the ball into the back of the et from about 20 yards out.
The Broncos return to action on Sunday, Sept. 5 against the Bulldogs of Gonzaga. Kick off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.
