Santa Clara (1-2-0) is in the midst of a season-opening road swing, playing four straight away from home. The Broncos split a pair of matches at the UC Irvine Collegiate Classic last weekend, beating Loyola-Chicago 1-0 after losing to Wisconsin 2-1.

On Friday, it was Valpo's 6-foot 6-inch forward Stefan Antonijevic's first-half goal which put SCU behind 17-minutes in. The header by Antonijevic, who out-leaped the Broncos' defense, was set up by Adrian Ortiz's free kick just outside the box.  

"We got off to a slow start," said Santa Clara head coach Cameron Rast. "(Valparaiso) put us under a lot of pressure in the first half and generated enough chances."

Erik Hurtado responded for Santa Clara. The all-league sophomore forward returned from an early-season injury to provide a spark for SCU up front. Hurtado broke down the Valpo defense a number of times but a strong wind slowed his shots from distance and the Broncos were never able to break through with a tying goal.

Hurtado us part of a young SCU team that started just one senior, Ricky Character.

Valparaiso (3-0) set a program record with 10 wins in 2009 and is off to its best-ever start thus far in 2010. The head coaches of the Horizon League selected Valpo to finish in a tie for third in the preseason poll.  Only Butler and Green Bay, both NCAA Tournament squads a year ago, were picked to finish ahead of the Crusaders.

 

"Valpo is good team, give them a lot of credit," added Rast. "They're not a team that will beat themselves. You have to be mature, competitve and tough to win out here in the Midwest."

Santa Clara will play tournament host Marquette Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (PT). Live stats will be available via Santa Clara's official athletics website (SantaClaraBroncos.com).