SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara men's soccer is set to open the 2026 season with a Thursday matinee against Cleveland State at 1 p.m. PT inside Stevens Stadium – Buck Shaw Field.  Led by head coach Cam Rast who begins his 25^th season at the helm, the Broncos field a 28-player squad with 20 returners that finished last season with a 6-5-7 record including 3-3-3 in West Coast Conference action, good for fifth in the league standings.

Four of the returners garnered All-WCC recognitions last year.  Senior goalkeeper Jackson Ozburn and senior midfielder Will Wiersdorf were second team while sophomore defender Alejandro Arenas and senior midfielder Niv Berkovitz were honorable mentions. 

Wiersdorf will wear the captain's armband for the third-straight season along with first time captain Arenas.

The Broncos return 18 of 23 goals from last season (78.3%) led by Wiersdorf and Berkovitz with six each.  Simon Diagana and Gabrielius Mazonas tallied two goals apiece while Alen Begovic and Tyler Tipton each had one.

In net, Ozburn played in 17 games and posted a 6-5-5 record with a 1.08 goals-against-average, a .738 save percentage and recorded seven shutouts.

Seven of the eight newcomers are freshmen with the lone transfer being Jona Starek from Saint Mary's. 

The schedule is comprised of 16 matches including nine at home.  They are split evenly with eight nonconference and conference games each.  This season, the West Coast Conference slate is back down to eight matches after playing nine last year with the departures of Oregon State and Gonzaga and the addition of Denver.

The top four finishing teams in the conference regular season will play in the inaugural WCC Tournament.  The single elimination semifinals will take place on Nov. 11 with the winner of each semifinal playing the conference title match on Nov. 14, hosted by the number one seed institution. 
 
The conference tournament champion, and no longer the conference regular season champion will earn the automatic bid into the NCAA postseason.

Tickets for the season can be purchased here.

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