Sept. 14, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 25th-ranked Santa Clara University men's soccer team picked up its first shutout and second win of the season Saturday night in Buck Shaw Stadium with a 3-0 win over Alabama A&M.
The Broncos (2-1-0) got out to an early 1-0 lead in the 14th minute after Alabama A&M (4-1-1) went a man down when Musa Manneh picked up a red card at the 8:32 mark for a hard tackle with his cleats up. Anthony Igwe scored the goal that gave the Broncos the lead off a precise pass from Devin Skrade. The goal was Igwe's second of the year.
Santa Clara continued it offensive pressure throughout the first half and broke through the Bulldog defense again at the 37:33 mark when freshly inserted Kirk Fonseca slid home a deflected ball past the Alabama A&M netminder.
The score remained 2-0 until the 90th minute when senior forward Jamil Walker picked up his fourth goal of the season on a blast from 12 yards out into the upper left corner of the goal. The four goals on the season sets a new career-high for Walker in both goals (4) and points scored (9) in a single season.
The score was truly indicative of the contest as the Broncos out-shot the Bulldogs by a 20-7 count, while corner kicks also favored the home team by an 11-2 margin. Santa Clara was caught offsides nine times in the contest, showing the new aggressive style associated with first-year head coach Cameron Rast.
Sophomore goalkeeper Steve Cronin picked up his first shutout of the season after needing to make only two saves while directing the stingy Bronco defense.
The Broncos will continue their season at home next week as they host the Santa Clara/adidas Classic beginning Thursday night against cross-town rival San Jose State at 7:30 p.m. They will conclude the tournament with a 7:30 p.m. match against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday evening.
