Sept. 2, 2006
IRVINE, Calif. - Peter Lowry and Jeff Cosgriff continued their scoring ways Saturday night as the No. 18 Santa Clara University men's soccer team remained unbeaten in 2006 with a 2-0 shutout of the Northwestern Wildcats at the UC Irvine College Classic. The Broncos jumped all over the Wildcats from the start and the defense limited NU to only three shots as the team posted its second shutout of the season.
SCU (2-0-1) concludes tournament action Monday morning as they battle the Niagara University Purple Eagles in an 11 a.m. match.
"It was good for us to come out real excited about playing and dictate the flow," said head coach Cameron Rast. "That's what we want to be able to do. Now it's about sustaining that and finding ways to play that way for an entire match. That's the part of developing over the course of a season"
The Broncos took seven shots in the first half, and in the first 20 minutes alone had opportunities to post multiple goals and put the match away. SCU still managed to find the net once in that span, as a penalty in the box led to Lowry converting on the ensuing penalty kick for what ended up being the game-winner.
Things slowed a bit in the second half as the Santa Clara defense locked down. SCU actually played the final 29 minutes of the game a man up on the Wildcats (2-1-0), as Northwestern's Daniel Pydo red-carded and sent off for a hard foul away from the ball at the 61:01 mark.
The Broncos took advantage of the situation in the 83rd minute, as Cosgriff got a hold of a bouncer in the box from Brian Martin and netted his second goal of the season from 14 yards out to seal the match.
"They put themselves in position to score goals and they are converting," Rast said of his younger players before singling out Cosgriff's goal. "We're pleased with Jeff at this point and want to continue to allow him to develop."
Joseph Buttitta made a save on the way to recording his second shutout of the season in being part of the stellar defensive outing.
Santa Clara will return home next weekend for a 7 p.m. match Friday, Sept. 8 at Buck Shaw Stadium against the Saint Louis Billikens.
