SAN DIEGO – San Diego scored three second-half goals including a pair off set pieces en route to defeating Santa Clara men's soccer 3-1 in a West Coast Conference match on Wednesday night. Ethan McNaughton, Devin Dillon and Elijah Zelkind each tallied a goal for the Toreros under wet conditions with some some light rain to start the game turning to heavy downpour at the start of the second half before tapering off. Josmar Guandique tallied a late goal for the Broncos to avoid the shutout.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- San Diego (8-3-3, 3-1-1 WCC) outshot Santa Clara 24-8 including 9-3 on frame. The Toreros also had a 13 to 5 edge in corner kicks and took advantage on two of them.
- In the 56th minute, Ethan McNaughton found the back of the net on a header off a corner kick from Kevin Pena to give USD a 1-0 lead. Broncos goalkeeper Jackson Ozburn, coming off back-to-back shutouts to earn consecutive WCC Defensive Player of the Week honors, got his hand on it but could not keep McNaughton from scoring his first goal of the season. It was the first tally conceded by the Broncos defense in 285 minutes that spanned six straight scoreless halves.
- The Toreros doubled the lead in the 80th minute off a corner kick from Matteo Salcedo, as an unmarked Dillon snuck in on the far post to head the ball in for his second goal of the season.
- USD struck again a minute later when Zelkind slotted the ball past Ozburn when a Bronco defender deflected away Steven Ramirez's cross into the box to his foot. It was also Zelkind's first goal on the year.
- Guandique got Santa Clara (4-7-3, 1-2-3 WCC) on the board with just five second remaining in the game off a Diego Jalleau corner to break the shutout bid by Lucca Adams.
- The scoring play put both Guadique and Jalleau atop the team lead with their fourth goal and fourth assist, respectively.
NOTABLE NUMBERS / GAME NOTES:
- Santa Clara leads the series 35-19-6.
- Jackson Blake made his first career start.
HIGHLIGHTS:
POST-GAME COMMENTS:
Head Coach Cam Rast on game:
"In the first half, we weren't that good with our attack but did a good job defending. And starting the second half, we knew it was important to get a result so we opened up. We created some decent chances but San Diego didn't create them either until the set pieces. On their first goal, we tracked the ball but the San Diego player got inside our defender and scored and that unlocked the game. We did ok defensively for a stretch after that but we shifted our shape to push forward. And on the second goal, we left two guys up top on the corner and got backdoored. The third goal was a poor touch around box as we were ok positionally. But we didn't stop and the guys kept fighting and got a goal late but we needed it to come earlier."
Rast on the quick turnaround facing Portland on Saturday:
"Portland is really good at home. I told the team after the game, we don't know if we can still make the WCC Tournament but we have to win the remaining two games and get some help in order to get into the tournament so that's the job now."
NEXT UP:
- Santa Clara heads up to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 21 Portland on Saturday night.
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