Sept. 29, 2005
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Santa Clara University head coach Cameron Rast was expecting a tough, physical road match before league play begins this weekend. Thursday night at Spartan Stadium his Broncos got just that.
Ryan Wolfe scored in the 33rd minute and Keith DeVey added his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the 70th to lead the eighth-ranked Santa Clara men's soccer team to a 2-0 shutout over San Jose State Thursday night at Spartan Stadium.
With the victory, Santa Clara moved to 6-2-0 on the season as it completed the non-conference portion of its regular-season schedule. San Jose State fell to 3-3-2 and lost to the Broncos in Spartan Stadium for the first time since 1998.
Additionally, Santa Clara picked-up three points in the year-long Rivalry Series between the two schools. After winning all three head-to-head event this week (volleyball, women's soccer, men's soccer), the Bronco athletic department holds a 9-0 lead in the all-sports competition between the two schools.
"This match was important to us for a lot of reasons," said Rast, who improved his overall coaching record in his fourth season at Santa Clara to a sparkling 47-18-5. "We needed a tough road match like this before we go into conference this weekend. We needed to play more aggressive and tougher up front.
"I thought we got exactly what we needed out of tonight's match. San Jose is a team that is physical, athletic and well-coached and they always play us right down to the wire. We learned a lot tonight about ourselves... how to not get shaken and how to battle for the full 90 minutes against a team that was not going to give up."
Santa Clara returns to action Sunday night against another local rival, Saint Mary's College, in a 7 p.m. kickoff at Buck Shaw Stadium. Advance tickets are available by calling 408/554-4660.
Offensively, San Jose State's tactic appeared to be to try to put pressure on the Broncos' defensive back four by gaining position in the back and going over the top for a run by quick forwards Johnny Gonzales and Nelson Diaz. SCU's starting foursome of Matt Hatzke, Jide Ogunbiyi, Matt Marquess and Jamil Roberts prevented the Spartans from gaining any major chances through the first 45 minutes of play.
In the 33rd minute, Wolfe took a pass from senior Ted Kristensson on the right side of the penalty area, took two quick steps and launched a low rolling shot past SJSU keeper Richard Mann into the lower left corner of the goal for the first score of the game.
The goal, which deflected off the far post and across the goal line, was the Laguna Beach, Calif. native's first of the season.
For most of the second half of the match, Rast maintained the same back four but made a number of substitutions at the midfield and forward positions. Reserves Jonathan Barbarin, Brian Curry, Kristensson and Aaron Clubb all spent time at one of the two positions, a bit of a departure from their more accustomed defensive spots.
In the 70th minute, Jeff Scott served a pass into the penalty area after receiving a throw end deep in Santa Clara's offensive end of the field. Ogunbiyi headed the ball backward toward the goal, straight to the opportunistic DeVey who put it into the goal.
Both teams had several chances to score in the final five minutes of the match in flurries in front of goal. SCU launched a barrage of shots at the goal during one series and only a beautiful last-second save by a Spartan defender prevented a goal.
A minute later, the Spartans took advantage of a defensive miscue to send a shot by Ismael Ibarra toward the goal. A hard shot by Ibarra went off the leg of Roberts and SCU keeper Kevin Sweeney made the save. Not long after that, Sweeney made another solid save on a low Spartan shot on goal.
Overall, Santa Clara outshot the Spartans by a 17-15 margin, but eight of SCU's shots were on frame as compared to just four for San Jose State.
