SPOKANE, Wash. - No. 24 Santa Clara men's soccer remained red hot on a chilly Saturday evening at Luger Field with a 4-1 win over Gonzaga to remain atop the West Coast Conference standings.
Graduate student Javier Ruiz Duran scored a brace and added an assist while Oladayo Thomas and Eduardo Lopez Perez tallied a goal apiece for Santa Clara (10-1-3, 4-0-1) after falling behind a goal early in the game.
"What we are starting to see from this group is maturity," said Broncos head coach Cam Rast. "There was no panic once we went down by a goal. They came together, figured things out and got back to it. We were starting to find the rhythm and once we got the second goal, Gonzaga pressed and opened themselves and we were able to expose it."
With the temperature dropping into the upper 30s throughout the game, Ruiz Duran scored the game winner from a tight angle in the 61st minute when he received the pass across the box from Tyrone Kirunda on the left side and shot it to the back post to break a 1-all tie.
Ruiz was not done for the night as he chipped home an insurance goal in the 86th minute to give Santa Clara a two-goal cushion at 3-1. And then assisted on Eduardo Lopez Perez's insurance goal in the 88th.
"Javi has the ability to run the game and that's what he did today," said Rast. "When the game opened up there at the end, he helped get hold of it and was able to put a good shift of work and score goals and make plays."
Lopez Perez's tally was the last of four unanswered goals by the Broncos after conceding one to Gonzaga (7-8, 2-3) early in the first half.
Demitrius Kigeya put the Bulldogs on the board in the seventh minute beating Broncos goalkeeper Ruben Stuiver with a blast from 25 yards out to the lower left 90.
Oladayo Thomas, the WCC's co-leading scorer, answered with an equalizer in the 26th minute. A Bulldog defensive miscue allowed the ball to get through to Joshua Dabora in the box whose shot was blocked by the goalkeeper Johan Garibay but bounced off of Dabora towards the goal where Thomas poked it in to knot the match up at 1-all.
Stuiver, who started his first game of the season, was credited with a save to pick up his second win of the season. Garibay also had one save.
The Broncos are undefeated in the last 10 matches going 7-0-3 during that span. At 4-0-1 in conference play, the Broncos have 13 points and are three points ahead of their next opponent, Portland, who are 3-1-1. A win against Portland on Saturday will clinch the WCC Championship for Santa Clara with two games remaining.
NOTES:
• Santa Clara is 24-10-5 all-time against Gonzaga. The Broncos are unbeaten against the Bulldogs in the last five outings, going 3-0-2.
• Javier Ruiz Duran who entered the game atop the WCC in assists had his eighth of the season.
• The game-winning goal by Ruiz Duran was his seventh of his career.
HIGHLIGHTS:
������������ ������������������@thomsvic12 eighth goal of the season knots the match up at 1-all! pic.twitter.com/rzIARRIhCs
— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) October 31, 2021
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— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) October 31, 2021
Issues with video skippage but trust me, a nice tight angle finish by @javiruiz_9 on a feed from Kirunda. pic.twitter.com/xG7LeKH70c
�������� ��������@javiruiz_9. So good. pic.twitter.com/6fZ2jSkqZ5
— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) October 31, 2021
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— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) October 31, 2021
Lopez Perez getting in the goal scoring action. pic.twitter.com/PgAnvhmlQx
NEXT UP:
The Broncos hosts Portland in the home finale on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
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