Posted: Sep 15, 2018
DAVIS, Calif. – For the second consecutive match, Santa Clara men's soccer fortunes turned on a penalty kick when UC Davis goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley made a kick save in the 79th minute to preserve a 2-1 lead in a game that the Aggie went on to win, 3-1.
"It's another disappointing result for us. I feel we are as good as any of the teams we've played against thus far but we are fighting ourselves. It's the little mistakes that's punishing us and it's a challenge for the team to overcome that," said Broncos head coach Cam Rast. "We fought back to get a penalty and it should've been a 2-2 match but instead UC Davis made the save. We then had to risk it pushing forward but they got the third goal to close out the game. Again, the game changed on one kick."
In the last match against Missouri State, the Broncos had an opportunity to win on a penalty kick with three seconds left in overtime but missed it wide.
On Saturday night, trailing 2-1, the Broncos were awarded a penalty kick that Javier Ruiz Duran took. The left-footer's shot was on target but was saved by Lapsley who dove left and got his top foot on the ball. Entering the match, Lapsley had a gaudy 0.47 goal against average in 576 minutes of play.
Santa Clara (1-5) nearly slipped one past Lapsley in the 26th minute when Ruiz Duran's shot from 18 hit the crossbar.
Nine minutes later, UC Davis (5-0-2) got on the board catching the Broncos defense flat footed when Robert Mejia's quick and long throw in split a pair of Bronco defenders. The thrown in found Dylan Wood who got himself in front of the goal to shoot it past Bronco goalkeeper Dakota Havlick to take a 1-0 lead.
The Broncos got the equalizer in the 39th minute when Alex Achramowicz, who came off the bench for the first time this season after starting the first five contests, scored his first goal of the season. The sophomore played down the long ball from Brendan Gillingham inside the box on the right side and hit it cleanly with his right foot to beat Lapsley low to the far post to tie the match at 1-1.
"We got down by a goal but fought back on the goal from Alex. I'm happy for him and how he responded coming off the bench," said Rast who utilized Achramowicz wide instead of in the middle where he has been starting.
The score remained tied at 1-1 heading to the half.
The Aggies reclaimed the lead in the 70th minute on Max Glasser's goal. The initial save was made by Havlick who smothered Adam Mickleson's shot off his line but Glasser picked up the loose ball to find the back of the net.
"The second goal we conceded was due to losing the midfield because we were too slow," said Rast.
Santa Clara had a couple of dangerous chances to tie it up in the 77th minute when Miles Robinson's blast was saved by Lapsley, followed by Julian Bravo's header that sailed just wide of the net. And in the 86th minute, Bravo struck a hard shot but right at the Aggie goalkeeper before Andy Velasquez closed the match with a goal in the 87th minute.
NEXT UP:
The Broncos plays the last of five consecutive road matches on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at Cal Poly. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. PT.
NOTES:
• Junior Dylan Carrubba and freshman Eduardo Lopez Perez started for the first time this season, playing a season-high 90 and 77 minutes respectively.
• The Broncos set season-highs with 17 shots, nine of which were on frame.
• Bravo, despite playing only 42 minutes, had a team-high three shots including two on goal along with Robinson.
