SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer dominated play from the get-go, scoring just four minutes into the the match and added two more goals in the second half en route to a 3-0 shutout victory over Sacramento State on a hot Sunday at Hornet Field.  The temperature hovered just above 100 degrees at kickoff and remained near the three-digit mark throughout the match.  Despite the challenging heat, the Broncos relentless pace resulted in a 16-10 advantage in shots including 9-3 on frame.  Will Wiersdorf was an ever-present threat tallying the opening goal to go along with an assist while four of his five shots found the target.    
  
HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• Santa Clara (1-1-2) jumped to an early lead on Wiersdorf's goal in the fourth minute.  The junior captain slipped behind the Hornets defense to receive the pass from Simon Diagana and slotted it low to the far post beyond the diving reach of goalkeeper Lucas Bost for his first goal of the season.  Spencer Roberts also received credit with an assist.
• Sacramento State (0-3-1) had their best chance to score midway through the opening half on a shot from Zac Giles that Bronco goalkeeper Jackson Ozburn got a hand on before deflecting off the post.   
• The Broncos took the one goal lead into the half, outshooting the Hornets 10-6 including 4-1 on frame.
• Senior Baronyi Kengeye tallied his first career goal in the 54th minute to double the Broncos lead, 2-0.  Jaiden Windell played the ball through to Kengeye on the left side of the penalty area where he had time to settle and calmly found the back of the net.
• The final goal came off the foot of freshman Gabrilius Mazonas with six minutes remaining in the game for his first career goal for the freshman, assisted by Wiersdorf and Niv Berkovitz.    
• Ozburn turned back three Sacramento State (0-3-1) shots to record his first shutout of the season and the second of his career. 

NOTABLE NUMBERS / GAME NOTES: 

• Santa Clara now leads the series 26-3-2.   
• Both teams played 18 players each under the challenging heat conditions.  Ozburn, Wiersdorf, Ethan Martinez, Alejandro Arenas, Quinn Garrett and Itamar Efrat played the full 90 minutes for the Broncos, while a pair of Hornets, Giles and Leonardo Martinez went the full 90.  
• Giles led the Hornets with four shots and two shots on goal.  

POST-GAME COMMENTS:

Head Coach Cam Rast on the game:
"Before the match, the coaching staff talked to the team about how the conditions would be tough with the heat but also a game where we'll need to have a positive response and figure out how to win the game.  That's the step we needed to take today as the performance has been pretty good up to this point in the season but the results haven't been there.  But today, both the performance and results were there." 

Rast on the three goals:
"With the first goal, we won the ball in transition and after connecting on some tight passes, Will took the shot under control.  His performance today and finish was right and I think getting that first goal of the year was a big burden off of him.

Baronyi made a great run to put us up by two goals.  He made a run from right side to the left side so he had to open his hips on the shot and made a good, clean shot to the far post.  It was his first as a Bronco so hopefully it'll be a big momentum build for him moving forward. 

The last goal by Mazonas was a similar type of run that Baronyi made, running from the middle to the left.  He's a goal scorer and that is why we have him."

Rast on the the team's defensive efforts:
"Defensively, we were solid as we went back to a formation that we played in the first couple of games.  We were much better locking things down and the guys put in the shift they needed to.  These games are never easy but we played quite well and I'm happy with the result." 

NEXT UP:

• Santa Clara travels to play San Diego State on Friday at 7 p.m. PT.   

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