SPOKANE, Wash. – Adem Hamdaoua's penalty kick goal in the 62nd minute was the difference in Santa Clara men's soccer 3-2 triumph over Gonzaga, giving Broncos head coach Cam Rast his 200th career victory. Three different Broncos tallied a goal including PKs by Jack Civitts and Hamdaoua to help Santa Clara (6-7-3, 4-1-1 WCC) maintain pace with league leader San Diego.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Santa Clara scored three unanswered goals in between early and late goals by Gonzaga (3-8-6, 1-4-1 WCC).
- Robbie Mora opened the scoring for Gonzaga in the 11th minute. He took the ball from midfield and dribbled into the teeth of the Broncos defense before getting off a right footed shot to the far post from just outside the six.
- In the 28th minute, Santa Clara leveled the match on a header by Caden Buckley. Yoni Aidlberg chipped the ball into the box that Buckley redirected from eight yards out for his fourth goal of the season.
- Civitts put the Broncos up 2-1 on a penalty kick in the 37th minute. Buckley drew a foul inside the box giving the PK opportunity to the freshman. Civitts used a stutter-step to get Gonzaga goalkeeper Wessel Sprangers to commit before he calmly rolled the ball to the back of the net. It was the fourth goal for the freshman from Issaquah returning to his home state.
- The game-winning goal came courtesy of Hamdaoua at the 62nd minute mark when Martin Kwende Jr. was tripped inside the box. Hamdaoua blasted the ball to the right side with Sprangers leaning the other way. The goal was his team-leading sixth of the year.
- Drew Pedersen made things interesting with a late goal with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. But the Bulldogs played the final couple of minutes short handed as Stefano Campisi was sent off after getting his second yellow card of the match.
NOTABLE NUMBERS / GAME NOTES:
- 200: Rast, in his 22nd season at the helm, has a career record of 200-148-64. Earlier in the season, he got his 100th WCC victory and currently sits with a 103-64-34 record in league play.
- 3: Hamdaoua has three game-winning goals this season, the most in the WCC.
- 13: Santa Clara and San Diego each have 13 points with an identical 4-1-1 record in conference action. However, the Toreros have the tiebreaker advantage with their head-to-head win over the Broncos.
HIGHLIGHTS:
POST-GAME COMMENTS:
Head Coach Cam Rast on his assessment of the game:
"It was a long travel day with a delay at the airport as we got in late. On top of that, it's been raining all day. We started the game sluggish and we didn't play the way we wanted to as Gonzaga got after us and scored an opportunistic goal. Then we settled down and got a couple of goals. It was the first time all season that we were awarded with penalty kicks and we talked about that before the game given how Gonzaga plays aggressively. Once we went up by two goals, we were in control but they made it interesting with that last goal at the 81st minute mark. I wouldn't say Gonzaga was on their front foot but they continued to play aggressive and had nothing to lose. We had a couple of dodgy moments but at the end we settled back down, they only had 10 players and on a slippery and wet night, anything could've happened but I'm happy that we came out with the results."
On winning his 200th career game:
"Based on how tonight's game went, that's how it feels. It's a grind and we're fighting for chances to win championships. For me, it epitomizes the program where everyone is committed to each other, battle hard and get results and today was no different."
NEXT UP:
- Santa Clara closes out the regular season at home against Gonzaga on Saturday, Nov. 11.
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