SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Sebastian Cruz capitalized on Cal State Fullerton's lone shot on goal to help defeat Santa Clara men's soccer 1-0 in a nonconference match up on Friday night at Stevens Stadium.
Santa Clara (0-2-1) was poised to break out of their offensive slump early, getting off four shots in the opening four minutes but were turned away three times by Titans goalkeeper Tetsuya Kadono.
In the scoreless first half, the Broncos put up nine shots in total including five on frame.
Cal State Fullerton (3-0) broke through in the 54th minute on a quick counter when goalkeeper Testuya Kadono delivered the ball to Jorge Quintero near midfield whose through ball found a streaking Jessy Sotelo behind the Broncos defense. Sotelo avoided the on rushing Broncos goalkeeper Felix Schaefer just outside the 18 and had an open net but had to play the ball back to Sebastian Cruz to avoid a Bronco defender. Cruz then calmly one-timed it to give the Titans the 1-0 lead.
It was the lone shot on goal for the Titans out of 18 shots.
The Broncos had seven shots in the second half but only one found the target. In all, Kadono made six saves to tally a clean sheet.
Cruz and Quintero had four shots each to lead the game while Oladayo Thomas and Dylan Penn had three apiece. Each of Penn's shots were on target.
NOTES
- Dylan Penn and Pierce Dyal made their first career starts at Santa Clara.
- Brandon Zelaya and Cole Motooka each made their season debuts.
- Santa Clara is 15-4-5 in the last 24 games dating back to the 2020 season and has lost just for the third time in the last 17 contests (9-3-5).
INTERVIEW
Coach Cam Rast shares his thoughts on the Broncos' frustrating start to the season, which continued in Friday night's loss to the Titans.#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/xUryxRcvEW
— Santa Clara Men's Soccer (@SCUBroncoSoccer) September 3, 2022
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