Men's Soccer Falls On The Road at #12 Santa Clara 2-1
10/31/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 1, 2004
Box Score
Santa Clara, CA - On a cool Halloween evening in Santa Clara, the Saint Mary's men's soccer team dropped a West Coast Conference game to the No. 12-ranked Santa Clara Broncos, 2-1. Santa Clara scored two first half goals, while the Gaels scored a single goal in the second half. The loss drops the Gaels record to 3-8-5 overall and 0-6-2 in WCC play, while the Broncos improved to 12-4 overall and 5-3 in conference action.
Santa Clara took a 1-0 lead when Ryan Purtell put a header past SMC goalkeeper Brian Mason at the 9:41 mark. The second goal of the season for Purtell came off a corner kick from the right side by Medhi Ballouchy. Santa Clara added to its lead when Will Weatherly found Peter Lowry over the SMC defense. Weatherly's pass put Lowry in a one-on-one situation with Mason, and his left-footed shot by Lowry found the net at the far post, for a 2-0 SCU lead with 21:36 remaining in the first half.
It looked like SMC cut the Broncos' lead in half on two opportunities before halftime. At the 32:57 mark, Matt Fitzgerald put a shot into the back of the net, but the goal disallowed due to an offsides call on the Gaels. Fitzgerald had another good opportunity to score at the 37:47 mark, but the shot from six yards out was saved by the SCU goalkeeper Kent Harkness.
The Broncos had a chance to extend their lead to three goals at the 53:04 mark, when SCU was awarded a penalty kick. Mason was up to the challenge, and made a diving save to stop Ballouchy's attempt, keeping the deficit at two goals.
Saint Mary's cut the deficit to 2-1 when Anthony Butler scored his third goal of the season at the 68:18 mark. David Vedder made a long cross to Butler who got behind the Bronco defense. SCU goalkeeper Kent Harkness came out past the penalty box to cut off the pass, but failed to make contact with the ball. The ball skipped past Harkness and Butler had a wide-open goal for SMC's only goal of the contest.
The Gaels took sevens shots in the game and SMC keeper Brian Mason collected two saves in the game. SCU took nine shots in the game and Harkness had one save.
Saint Mary's will return to action on November 5 when the Gaels continue West Coast Conference play on the road at San Diego. The match against the Toreros will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be played Torero Stadium.
MSOC | Saint Mary's vs. LMU Game Highlights
Monday, October 20
MSOC | Game Highlights vs. Santa Clara
Thursday, October 16
MSOC | Bentley PK save and Toelhoej penalty goal, 1-1 draw vs. Seattle U
Saturday, September 27
MSOC | Saint Mary's vs. UC Davis Game Highlights
Thursday, September 04
