No. 22 Men's Soccer Face Cal Poly in Exhibition Finale on Saturday

Posted: Aug 18, 2022

THE TEAMS
No. 22 Santa Clara (0-0) vs. Cal Poly (0-0)

MATCH INFO
When: Saturday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. PT
Where: Alex G. Spanos Stadium
Live Stats: None
Video: None

SERIES HISTORY
Santa Clara is 8-1 all-time against Cal Poly.
The last meeting was a 1-0 win for Santa Clara in the 2021 season opener.

NOTES

In the first exhibition match on Tuesday, Santa Clara and Sacramento State played to an 1-all draw. Newcomer Jesse Anamoo tallied the lone goal for the Broncos.
Santa Clara finished last season 12-2-4 overall and 5-0-2 in West Coast Conference to win the WCC Championship for the 13th time and made their 21st appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Broncos return 16 players from last season's squad. That team advanced to the second round the NCAA Tournament where they lost 2-0 to Kentucky.
Four returnees garnered All-WCC honors in 2021: Oladayo Thomas (first team), Alejandro Barajas (second team), Joshua Dabora (second team) and Tyrone Kirunda (all-freshman).
The Broncos opened the 2022 season ranked No. 22 in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
SCU lost 12 players from the 2021 squad including five-time All-WCC selection and three-time co-captain Javier Ruiz Duran as well as Julian Bravo who was drafted in the second round by the Portland Timers in the MLS Super Draft.
Twelve newcomers dot the roster including five freshmen and seven transfers.
Nine of the 16 returnees tallied at least a point in 2021.
Thomas led the WCC in points (26), goals (nine) and shots (52) while finishing second in assists (eight).
Thomas and junior defender Damani Osei were named preseason All-WCC. Osei was named second team United Soccer Coaches All-West Region following the 2021 campaign.
Thomas and Osei were also named to the United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch.
Osei was called up to the Jamaican Senior Club for the Austria Mini Tournament.
Santa Clara is 15-2-4 in the last 21 games dating back to the spring and lost just once in the last 14 contests (9-1-4).
In 2021:
- Santa Clara made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015.
- Santa Clara won its 13th WCC Championship in the penultimate game of the regular season, beating NCAA qualifier Portland 3-1 (Nov. 6), to earn an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
- The Broncos finished the WCC season undefeated for the fourth time in program history (1989: 4-0-1, 1994: 5-0-1, 2007: 10-0-2 & 2021: 5-0-2).
- The Broncos finished the regular season (11-1-4) with their highest winning percentage (.813) since 2004 when they were 16-2-4 (.818).
- The lone loss this season was at then No. 2-ranked Georgetown, 1-0.
- From Sept. 17 to Oct. 16, Thomas logged a point in six-straight games (four goals & four assists during the span), tied for the third longest streak in Bronco history alongside Paul Bravo in 1989, before it was snapped against San Diego.
- Seven different Bronco players scored the game-winning goal last fall including Thomas who scored three game winners while Dabora and Eduardo Lopez Perez scored two. Lopez Perez scored the golden goal against Akron in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The Broncos conceded just six goals in the first half last season.
Santa Clara has been to 21 NCAA Tournaments, five College Cups (1989, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2003) and won one National Championship (1989).
The Broncos have won the West Coast Conference 13 times (1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2015, 2021).
Head coach Cam Rast is in his 21st year as the head coach. He owns a 190-136-55 career record and is Santa Clara men's soccer's winningest coach. A Santa Clara University alumnus, Rast has led his alma mater to eight NCAA tournaments and six West Coast Conference Championships since taking over the Bronco men's soccer program in 2002. A former All-America player on Santa Clara's 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.