Posted: Aug 17, 2018
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer welcomes San José State to Stevens Stadium on Sunday for an exhibition match at 7:30 p.m. PT. It will be the final tune up for the Broncos before opening its regular season on Aug. 24 against San Diego State.
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THE BRONCOS
The Broncos opened its exhibition season on Wednesday, coming back from a two-goal deficit to draw Sacramento State, 2-2. After conceding two early goals in the first half, Santa Clara got a goal from sophomore Javier Ruiz Duran in the 48th minute to cut the deficit in half.
In the 76th minute, sophomore Alan Camacho Soto, a transfer from Temple, headed in on a cross from junior Miles Robinson to even the score at 2-2 with the teams not electing to play overtime since it was an exhibition game.
The match was a physical contest where 34 total fouls were called, including 23 committed by the Broncos.
"We will need to better control our intensity for Sunday. We were too amped up to affect the game and to try to change some things in the quality of the way we were playing. We need to focus on controlling our intensity so we aren't running by players that are dribbling and when we do have a chance to win the ball and take position, we don't just give it right back. That put us under pressure in the first half but we did a much better job in the second half and that will be the key on Sunday," said Broncos head coach Cam Rast.
Santa Clara returns eights players who played in at least 11 matches last year including three West Coast Conference All-Freshman selections -Javier Ruiz Duran, Nate Shue and Terrell Smith - from a squad that finished fifth in the conference standings. In all, the Broncos will field 17 returners along with 11 newcomers.
In Wednesday's exhibition match, the Broncos played 16 players, including six newcomers. The starting backline consisted entirely of freshmen – Martin Aasen, Alejandro Barajas, Sakari Carter and Emil Christensen.
THE SPARTANS
San José State is led by fifth year head coach Simon Tobin whose team is coming off a Western Athletic Conference championship appearance and were picked to finish fourth in the WAC preseason coaches poll.
The Spartans posted a 9-11-1 record last season and will field a veteran squad with seven seniors, including defender Andy Rios who was named preseason All-WAC. Rios, along with senior forward Zach Penner are the leading returning goal scorers having scored three goals each last season. Sophomore midfielder was credited with five assists to lead the team. SJSU lost its leading scorer, senior Jeremy Romero, who scored 10 goals last season.
Junior David Heredia returns as the goalkeeper, having started in 12 of the 13 matches he appeared in, posting a 7-5-1 record with a 1.32 goals against average along with six shutouts.
SJSU is coming off a 2-0 loss to Cal State Monterey Bay on Thursday in an exhibition match. The Spartans opens its regular season on Aug. 24 when it travels to play three-time defending national champions Stanford.
