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Men's Soccer Set to Host No. 20 Saint Mary's in a WCC Matchup on Sunday

Men's Soccer Set to Host No. 20 Saint Mary's in a WCC Matchup on Sunday
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer returns to Stevens Stadium to host No. 20 Saint Mary's in a West Coast Conference match up on Sunday at 1 p.m.  This will be the second matchup of the season between the two schools which first met back on Feb. 21 in a nonconference game.
 
Due to current State of California guidelines, spectators will not be permitted inside Stevens Stadium. In addition, only essential personnel is allowed on campus. The general public is allowed only to 'pass through' campus, such as on a walk, but no lingering, gathering, lounging, etc. is permitted.  
 
Santa Clara (1-3-0, 1-2-0) will look to even the season series on Sunday after falling to the Gaels 2-0 earlier.  That game was the season opener for the Broncos and the second game for the Gaels.
 
The Broncos are coming off a 2-1 road win in overtime against Pacific where freshman Caden Buckley scored the golden goal in the waning seconds of extra time.  The goal in the 100th minute was Buckley's first career goal and assisted by newcomer Oladayo Thomas for his first Bronco assist.  SCU had struggled to score in the first three games but got a lift from Alejandro Barajas with his equalizer in the 71st minute before Buckley's goal.  
 
Saint Mary's (3-0-1, 1-0-1) also picked up their first conference win last weekend against Gonzaga, 2-0.  Their first WCC game against Portland was postponed before playing to a scoreless draw against San Diego in their lone road game thus far.  
 
THE GAELS (3-0-1, 1-0-1 WCC)
Saint Mary's was picked to finish second in the WCC preseason coaches poll behind LMU even though the Gaels received a league-high four first place votes. The Gaels are the two-time defending conference champions (in 2018 and 2019) and have lost just twice those those two seasons going 34-2-2.  
 
Sunday's match is the fourth game for Saint Mary's this season, all against WCC schools but with only two of them counting towards the conference record.  The first two games against Pacific and Santa Clara were nonconference games.  
 
The Gaels boast a strong defense that has not conceded a goal all season.  While 25 of the Gaels shots have been on frame, just 13 of their opponents have been on mark.  
 
Goalkeeper Nicholas Lapinid has played for most of the season logging 347 minutes with Kash Oladapo getting 45 minutes of action.  Lapinid has 11 saves on the year.  
 
Offensively, five Gaels have tallied a goal.  Preseason all-WCC selection Sebastian Schacht and Lucas Andrews have an assist each to their credit to lead the team with three points.  
 
SERIES HISTORY
Santa Clara leads the series 42-11-6 in a series that dates back to 1968.  The last time Saint Mary's played at Stevens Stadium on Oct. 12, 2019, the 1989 co-National Championship Bronco squad was recognized at halftime.     
 

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Livestream Video

WCC Network

Live Stats

StatBroadcast

 
NOTES

Live Stream

• All Bronco home matches and West Coast Conference road matches are scheduled to be streamed live on the WCC Network.

 

Broncos Team Information

• Thirteen players return from the 2019 squad that finished with an overall record of 8-7-2 (2-4-1 in the West Coast Conference). 

• Twelve players with playing experience return including 10 who played 15 or more games last season.  

• Broncos welcome 12 newcomers – seven freshmen (Dylan BartlettCaden BuckleyLiam JohnsonTyrone KirundaCole MotookaTimmy RastJack Stoecker) plus five transfers (Nicholas CudiniAndreu Cases MundetJack MurphyJuan O'NeillOladayo Thomas).  

• 54% of scoring returns (13 of 24 goals) led by Javier Ruiz Duran and Eduardo Lopez Perez with four goals each.

• Returning goal scorers (2019 stats): Javier Ruiz Duran (4), Eduardo Lopez Perez (4), Julian Bravo (3), Alejandro Barajas (1), Alejandro Perez (1) 

• Returning goalkeeper (2019 stats): Guillem Badenes Mecho (15 GP, 8-5-1, 0.81 GAA, .739 save percentage)

 

Class Breakdown – 25 Player Roster

• Graduate School: 1 (Andreu Cases Mundet)

• Seniors: 6 (Alex AchramowiczAran O'BrienJuan O'NeillJavier Ruiz DuranTennyson StevensOladayo Thomas)

• Juniors: 8 (Alejandro BarajasJulian BravoSakari CarterEmil ChristensenNicholas CudiniEduardo Lopez PerezJack MurphyAlejandro Perez)

• Sophomores: 3 (Liam AndersonGuillem Badenes MechoDamani Osei)

• Freshmen: 7 (Dylan BartlettCaden BuckleyLiam JohnsonTyrone KirundaCole MotookaTimmy RastJack Stoecker)

 

Across the Globe

• The Bronco roster fields a squad composed of player hometowns from seven states and seven countries. 

o States (7): California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia and Washington

o Countries (7): Denmark, England, Italy, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Spain, United States

 

All-West Coast Conference

• Santa Clara returns three All-West Coast Conference players from last season: Javier Ruiz Duran (first-team), Emil Christensen (second-team) and Damani Osei (all-freshman).

• Ruiz Duran and Christensen were named preseason All-WCC this season.

 

United Soccer Coaches All-West Region

• At the conclusion of the 2019 season, Ruiz Duran (third-team) and Christensen (second-team) were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region team.  They are the 23rd and 24th Broncos overall to be named to the United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) All-West Region team. 

• Ruiz Duran is the first Santa Clara player to repeat on the All-West Region team since current Bronco volunteer assistant coach Jide Ogunbiyi in 2007 and 2008 when he was named first and third team. 

 

Bronco Newcomers

• Ten newcomers saw action in the season opener against Saint Mary's including starts by five of them - Andreu Cases MundetOladayo ThomasJack MurphyJuan O'Neill and Nicholas Cudini. In addition, Cole MotookaTimmy RastLiam JohnsonCaden Buckley and Dylan Bartlett played.

• Seven newcomers (Thomas, Bartlett, O'Neill, Motooka, Buckley, Murphy and Johnson) have played all four games this season.   

• Buckley recorded his first career goal against Pacific (March 14) on Thomas' first career assist for the golden goal game-winner in the 100th minute.  

 

Coaching Staff – Bronco Then, Bronco Now

• All four coaches on the Broncos staff played at Santa Clara.

o Head coach Cam Rast (class of 1991) has led his alma mater to seven NCAA tournaments and five West Coast Conference Championships since taking over the Bronco men's soccer program in 2002. A former All-America player on Santa Clara's co-National Championship team of 1989 and U.S. Olympic Team captain in 1992, Rast spent eight seasons as an assistant coach at SCU from 1994-2001 and was inducted to the WCC Hall of Honor in 2018.  Rast is the program's all-time winningest coach with a 174-131-51 career record. 

o Associate head coach Eric Yamamoto (class of 1990) enters his 29th year coaching at Santa Clara.  Wearing the Bronco uniform from 1986-89, Yamamoto was an All-American goalkeeper on Santa Clara's 1989 NCAA co-National Championship team.  He spent most of the 1990's as the goalkeepers coach for Santa Clara's men's and women's programs joining the coaching ranks in 1992.  In 2007 he was named National Assistant Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

o Assistant coach Mykell Bates (class of 2012) in his second year as a full-time assistant after serving as a volunteer coach for one year.  Bates was a two-time captain on the 2010 and 2011 squads and was selected All-West Coast Conference First Team in those seasons.

o Volunteer assistant coach Jide Ogunbiyi (class of 2009) begins his second year in the role.  Ogunbiyi was the No. 18 overall pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the New York Red Bulls and embarked on a nearly 10 year professional career in Denmark, including in the Danish Superliga.  The 6-foot-4 defender/forward helped the Broncos to back-to-back WCC titles in 2006 and 2007 and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

 

Coaches' Sons

• Jack Murphy, a transfer from Fordham University, is the son of Santa Clara associate women's soccer head coach Gregg Murphy.

• Incoming freshman Timmy Rast is the son of Santa Clara men's soccer head coach Cam Rast.  Like his father, Timmy is a defender and will also don the No. 14 jersey that Cam wore from 1988 – 91.

 

Getting It Done In The Classroom

• In the fall quarter, the men's soccer team posted the highest term GPA (3.47) amongst all Santa Clara men's teams.

 

Schedule

• Santa Clara is scheduled to play eight matches this spring, all against West Coast Conference opponents but only seven of them count towards the conference record.  The first match against Saint Mary's on Feb. 21 is a nonconference match.  The Broncos play three home and five road matches. 

• All the games are on Sundays with the exception of the Portland match which falls on a Saturday (April 3).

Sun. Feb. 21         at Saint Mary's    L, 2-0                           

Sun. Feb. 28         Loyola Marymount *    L, 3-0             

Sun. March 7        at San Francisco *   L, 2-0                

Sun. March 14      at Pacific *   W, 2-1 (OT)                           

Sun. March 21      Saint Mary's *                       

Sun. March 28      Gonzaga *                             

Sat. April 3          at Portland *                            

Sun. April 11        at San Diego *                        

*Conference         Bold team: Home event

 

2021 Recruiting Class

• The Broncos signed three players in the incoming recruiting class for the 2021-22 season: Blake Gillingham, Aaron Sandhu and Dominic Vegaalban

• Gillingham is a 6-foot-2 goalkeeper from nearby Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California and played his club soccer for De Anza Force SC.  He was ranked as one of the top 150 players in the country by IMG Academy.

• Sandhu is a 6-foot defender out of Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Washington.  He competed for United Football Academy in the USSDA U15 before playing the last three seasons for Crossfire Premier SC.

• Vegaalban, a forward from Rocklin, California attended Visions in Education.  The 5-foot-10 Vegaalban has been in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy with Sacramento Republic FC, Seattle Sounders FC, Sacramento Republic FC and De Anza Force SC.  He has also been part of the U14 and U16 U.S. Boys' National Teams.

 
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