SAN DIEGO — The San Diego men's soccer team kept pressing through a scoreless first half and was rewarded with three goals after the break Wednesday night, beating Santa Clara 3-1 in a West Coast Conference match at Torero Stadium.
The Toreros (8-3-3, 3-1-2 WCC) controlled the opening 45 minutes against Santa Clara (4-7-3, 1-2-3 WCC), outshooting the Broncos 7-1 and holding 67% of possession.
Oliver Rhoades forced saves in the 28th and 40th minutes, and Santa Clara's only shot of the half was blocked.
Ethan McNaughton broke the deadlock in the 56th minute. He met
Kevin Pena's corner kick from the left at the near post, and his header from 6 yards went in off the goalkeeper's arms for his first collegiate goal.
From there, San Diego kept the Broncos pinned back, allowing one shot over the next 28 minutes.
Iain Wagner forced a save in the 66th minute, Pena hit the crossbar in the 68th and Rhoades was denied again in the 76th.
Another corner from the left doubled the lead in the 80th minute.
Matteo Salcedo's delivery floated over the outstretched goalkeeper, and
Devin Dillon nodded it into an empty net at the far post. It was the second goal of the season for the defender, who also scored in the season-opening win at then-No. 1 Washington.
Elijah Zelkind, another defender, made it 3-0 just 95 seconds later.
Steven Ramirez crossed from the right, a Santa Clara clearance went astray and Zelkind tapped it in from 6 yards with his right foot.
"We felt we needed to keep probing and have Santa Clara defend deep," head coach
Brian Quinn said. "Fortunately our two defenders got on the end of good crosses. I'm happy for both Eli and Ethan scoring their first collegiate goals."
San Diego outshot Santa Clara 24-8, including 17-7 after halftime, and held edges of 9-3 in shots on goal and 13-5 in corner kicks. Wagner had a match-high five shots, and Rhoades put three of his four on goal.
Lucca Adams played the full 90 minutes in goal, made two saves and improved to 8-3-3 on the season. Santa Clara's lone goal came off a corner kick with five seconds remaining.
"We are pleased because it keeps us in the top four for the conference tournament," Quinn said. "Our initial focus is UCLA on Sunday and then to finish strong versus Seattle and Saint Mary's."
UP NEXT
San Diego visits UCLA for a non-conference match on Sunday, Oct. 25. Kickoff at Wallis Annenberg Stadium in Los Angeles is set for 6 p.m.
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