SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer plays its first true road contest of the season when they play at UNLV on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. PT. The match against Utah Valley on Thursday night was a neutral site game in Last Vegas where the
Broncos came up on the short end, 1-0, conceding a goal late in the match despite holding a 16-7 advantage in shots including 5-2 on frame.
THE REBELS (2-5)
UNLV enters Sunday's contest with a 2-5 overall record having lost the last two matches. The Rebels are 0-2 at home and 2-3 on the road. The match against the Broncos will mark the fourth straight West Coast Conference opponent that UNLV will face, having gone 1-2 in the first three games. A week ago, they beat Pacific 2-0 and fell to San Francisco, 1-0, on the road. On Thursday, UNLV lost 2-0 to Saint Mary's.
Head coach Rich Ryerson is in his 10th year with the program with a 81-97-13 record. Last season, the Rebels finished 10-10-1 and 5-5-1 in the Western Athletic Conference to finish seventh in the league.
Junior forward Marco Gonzalez, sophomore midfielder Nico Clasen and senior midfielder Timo Mehlich are the top returning players among 10 letterwinners. The Rebels are breaking in 13 newcomers. Gonzalez tallied 10 goals and 23 points and was named United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second-Team. Clasen recorded all of his 10 points on assists in his first season to be named College Soccer News All-Freshman Third-Team as well as to the All-WAC All-Freshmen team. Mehlich scored three goals and assisted on four and was recognized as Second-Team All-WAC.
Goalkeepers Lukas Betz and Enrique Adame have split time with five and two starts, respectively. Betz has both of the Rebels wins with a .758 save percentage to go with 1.60 goals against average and Adame has a .706 save percentage with 2.21 GAA.
SERIES HISTORY
Santa Clara trails the series 1-4-1, having last played in 1996 where the match ended up in a 2-2 draw in Last Vegas.
THE BRONCOS (2-3-1)
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
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 now 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 their first career goals against San Jose State (Sept. 6).
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).
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).
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
• Eight Broncos have scored a goal this season led by
Sam Agosti with two.
Home, then away
• Santa Clara started its season with a five-match homestand, followed by five straight matches on the road before it starts West Coast Conference play at home on Oct. 12.
Close Margins
• All three Bronco losses this season have been by a score of 1-0, falling to Missouri State (Sept. 2), Grand Canyon (Sept. 8) and Utah Valley (Sept. 19).
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