LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky scored two early goals on set pieces and maintained the advantage throughout to defeat Santa Clara men's soccer 2-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on a rainy Sunday night at Wendell and Vickie Bell Soccer Complex.
Header goals by Lucca Rodrigues and Marcel Meinzer in the opening 10 minutes and a stout defense kept Santa Clara (12-2-4) without a shot on goal to help the Wildcats advance to the third round.
Kentucky (15-1-4) got on the scoreboard just five minutes into the game courtesy of Rodrigues. Mason Visconti delivered a corner kick from the right side to the near post and Rodrigues flicked it to the far post to grab an early 1-0 lead.
Five minutes later, the Wildcats struck again off a Visconti corner kick. This time, Visconti sent the ball to the far post where Marcel Meinzer found the back of the net with a strong header to double the Wildcat lead to 2-0.
The Kentucky defense kept Santa Clara's offense at bay for much of the game holding them to four shots with limited dangerous opportunities.
After conceding the goals in two of the first three Kentucky corner kicks, the Broncos did a better job the rest of the way. The Wildcats had a 6-to-2 advantage in corners and 12-to-4 in shots.
Jan Hoffelner recorded a clean sheet for Kentucky.
Broncos goalkeeper Ruben Stuiver had two saves in the game, both coming in the 35th minute on back-to-back shots by Clay Holstad and Brock Lindow to keep it a 2-0 game.
NOTES:
• Santa Clara is now 0-1 all-time against Kentucky.
• The Broncos dropped its record in the NCAA Tournament to 26-18-6.
• It was just the second loss in the last 21 matches for Santa Clara, dating back to last spring, going 15-2-4 during that span.
INTERVIEW:
Head coach Cam Rast discusses the end to the season, which came in tonight's loss to Kentucky in the second round of the @NCAASoccer Tournament pic.twitter.com/RJqKrVbGsV
— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) November 22, 2021
��️ Postgame press conference w/ departing SRs Juan O'Neill (L) & Javier Ruiz Duran (R) along w/ HC Cam Rast.
— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) November 22, 2021
Players talk about the quick turnaround for the 2nd round & Rast discusses the mix of emotions coming off a loss but also the gratitude of having a conf championship yr. pic.twitter.com/9c1OHgoqJZ
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The Broncos finished the 2021 season with a 12-2-4 record.
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