SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer travels to Portland to play their second straight opponent who qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tounament with the kickoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Merlo Field.
Last Saturday, the Broncos took down 2018 NCAA qualifier Pacific at home to even their conference record at 1-1.
The Broncos (7-4-1, 1-1 WCC) have won four of their last five matches and they look to extend their road winning streak to five games in the first West Coast Conference road contest this season. Santa Clara boasts a 4-1 record on away games but is a perfect 4-0 on true road matches as the lone loss came on a neutral site match in Las Vegas against Utah Valley on Sept. 19. Since then, the Broncos have reeled off four straight wins on the road conceding just one goal during that span.
THE PILOTS (6-5-1, 0-2 WCC)
Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt is in his fourth year at the helm and has compiled a 39-21-7 overall record including 13-8-2 in league play. Last season, the Pilots were 12-4-3 overall and 9-1-3 at home to earn a NCAA berth. They advanced to the second round before losing to Kentucky, 4-0.
This year's squad returns 17 players including seven starters and enter Saturday's match looking for their first league win. The Pilots lost their first two WCC contests to Pacific at home, 1-0, and at LMU, 2-1, in double overtime but did win the last match, a midweek game against Cal Tuesday night, beating the Bears 2-1.
Just as they were last season, the Pilots are tough at home with a 5-2-1 record. They average 1.5 goals a game while giving up 0.83 goals a contest compared to the 1.75/0.75 split for the Broncos.
Jacobo Reyes, Alejandro Pereira and Luke Hendel pace the team with three goals each. Reyes also has a team-high five assists to top the team with 11 points.
Goalkeeper Nico Campuzano has started in eight matches with a 0.95 goals-against-average and a .778 save percentage and Josh Lagudah has a 0.50 GAA to go along with an .818 save percentage in four starts. On Tuesday, Lagudah got the start against Cal but Campuzano started the two conference tilts. Both have two shutouts each.
SERIES HISTORY
Santa Clara leads the series 22-19-8. The Pilots have won the last three contests with the last Broncos win coming in 2015 at Portland.
THE BRONCOS (7-4-1, 1-1 WCC)
Badenes Mecho already has four clean sheets to his credit as defensively, the Broncos have kept the opposition under a single goal in all but one match this season.
The 2019 campaign marks the 18th season at the helm for Santa Clara head coach Cam Rast who leads a squad that returns 23 players including three All-West Coast Conference honorees from a team that finished 5-10-2.
Nineteen of the returners saw action last season with 13 of them appearing in double digit matches to account for 80 percent of its goals and all of its assists.
Junior
Javier Ruiz Duran led the team in goals (six) and assists (five) to earn All-WCC Second Team recognition along with senior
Miles Robinson who scored four and assisted on three. Sophomore
Eduardo Lopez Perez tallied a pair of goals and was named to the WCC All-Freshman team.
Redshirt junior
Henning Jolivet brings the most experience between the woodwork playing in seven matches last season to finish with a 3-3-1 record and a 1.89 goals against average.
NOTES
1989 National Championship - 30th Anniversary
• Santa Clara men's soccer celebrated their 30th anniversary of the 1989 National Championship this season. Members of the 1989 squad was recognized during halftime of the Oct. 12 match against Saint Mary's during Grand Reunion weekend. Current coaches Cam Rast and Eric Yamamoto were on the 1989 championship squad (video courtesy WCC).
Live Stream
• All Bronco home matches and West Coast Conference road matches are streamed live on the WCC Network with David Gentile doing the play-by-play for the home matches.
Broncos Team Information
• Twenty-three players return from the 2018 squad that finished with an overall record of 5-10-2 (1-5-1 in the West Coast Conference).
• Nineteen players with playing experience return including 13 who played 10 or more games last season.
Class Breakdown
Across the Globe
• The Bronco roster fields a squad composed of player hometowns from eight states and five countries.
o States: California, Colorado, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington
o Countries: Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain, United States
All-West Coast Conference
United Soccer Coaches All-West Region
2019 Exhibition Matches
• Freshman goalkeeper
Guillem Badenes Mecho played in 135 of 180 minutes including starting the Sacramento State game.
Season Openers
• With the win against Holy Cross, Broncos head coach Cam Rast is 10-8 including 5-4 at home in season openers.
Firsts
Goals
• Senior
Sam Agosti and sophomore
Martin Aasen tallied their first goals as a Bronco in the season opener (Aug. 30) against Holy Cross.
• Junior
Terrell Smith scored his first career goal against San Diego State (Sept. 14).
• Junior
Isaac Addai scored his first career goal against Lipscomb (Sept. 27).
• Sophomore
Alejandro Barajas scored his first career goal against Evansville (Sept. 29).
Assists
• Redshirt sophomore
Presten Manthey had his first career assists (two) against San Jose State (Sept. 6).
• Sophomore
Sakari Carter had his first career assist against San Diego State (Sept. 14).
• Sophomore
Alejandro Perez recorded his first career assist against Lipscomb (Sept. 27).
• Sophomore
Emil Christensen recorded his first career assist against Evansville (Sept. 29).
Starts
• Redshirt freshman
Presten Manthey made his first Bronco start against San Jose State (Sept. 6).
• Freshman
Damani Osei made his first Bronco start against Utah Valley (Sept. 19).
Bronco Debuts
• Freshman
Damani Osei made his Bronco debut coming off the bench against Missouri State (Sept. 2).
Shutous
• Badenes Mecho recorded his first career shutout against Holy Cross (Aug. 30). He was also credited with shutouts in three straight matches against Lipscomb (Sept. 27), Evansville (Sept. 29) and CSUN (Oct. 5).
Starting XI
• Alex Achramowicz started in the first two matches (vs. Holy Cross on Aug. 30 and Missouri State on Sept. 2).
• Alan Camacho Soto started against Holy Cross on Aug. 30, Missouri State on Sept. 2 and San Diego State on Sept. 14.
•
Nate Shue started against San Jose State (Sept. 6), Grand Canyon (Sept. 8) and San Diego State (Sept. 14).
• Presten Manthey started against San Jose State (Sept. 6) and Grand Canyon (Sept. 8).
Spreading the Wealth
Steady D
• Santa Clara has held opponents to one goal or less in all but one match this season. After the opening day shutout against Holy Cross, the Broncos allowed one goal in each of the subsequent six matches followed by three straight shutouts before giving up a season-high two goals against then-No. 8 Saint Mary's (Oct. 12).
• The last time the Broncos posted shutouts in three-straight matches was back in 2012 when they shut out NJIT (Sept. 21), San Diego (Sept. 28) and LMU (Sept. 30).
• The Broncos held their opponents scoreless for 349 straight minutes until the first half goal by Saint Mary's Joseph Restani on Oct. 12.
National Ranking
• Goalkeeper
Guillem Badenes Mecho is ranked 15th in the country (and third in the WCC) in goals-against-average with 0.66. He is also 15th in the nation (and second in the conference) with an .818 save percentage. The freshman has four clean sheets on the season and has given up only seven goals in 11 matches spanning 859 minutes of action.
Home, then away
• Santa Clara started its season with a five-match homestand, followed by five straight matches on the road before starting West Coast Conference play at home on Oct. 12.
• The team finished with a 2-2-1 record in the homestand and 4-1 on the road trip.
Road Warriors
• The Broncos have a 4-1 record away from home including 4-0 in true road games. They lost a neutral site match in Las Vegas against Utah Valley, 1-0, on Sept. 19.
Two Goals Equal a Win
• In all seven wins this season, the Broncos have scored two or more goals.
Close Margins
• All four Broncos losses this season have been by a one goal margin. The first three were 1-0 losses to Missouri State (Sept. 2), Grand Canyon (Sept. 8) and Utah Valley (Sept. 19) before losing 2-1 to Saint Mary's (Oct. 12).
Attendance
• The home match against Saint Mary's (Oct. 12) drew a crowd of 1,514, for the biggest SCU men's soccer crowd at Stevens Stadium since 2007 when 2,487 fans attended the third round of the NCAA tournament against Notre Dame game on Dec. 1. It was the biggest regular season crowd since Oct. 21, 2007 when Santa Clara played Gonzaga infront of 1,618 fans.
Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
