Men's soccer disappoints with a loss to Marquette

By Jack Ferdon

In a battle of Jesuit universities, Santa Clara played well but still suffered a 1-0 loss to Marquette last Saturday night at Buck Shaw Stadium.

The Broncos were generous in their failure to capitalize on any of their numerous chances to get one past the Golden Eagles' keeper. Santa Clara took 11 shots, with five being on goal, but could not convert any of them, continuing a trend towards offensive futility.

Meanwhile, Marquette was able to get off just six shots and only one of them was on target. But that would be enough.

The winning goal came just before the halftime whistle, in the 44th minute. After a great save by Bronco goalie Rusty Johnson, the ball rebounded directly to a Golden Eagle in front of an empty net. It was put away and so was Santa Clara.

Head Coach Mitch Murray, whose Broncos now have a 3-3 record, was unhappy with the team's offensive performance.

"It's very disappointing to lose to Marquette," Murray said. "We need to have some composure in front of the goal."

The Broncos' offense had the same difficulty in converting scoring opportunities in a 1-0 victory against Long Island University earlier in the week. Though senior Anthony Chimienti -- a second half substitution by Murray -- scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute on a pass from junior Stephen Biondilillo, Santa Clara expected more scoring in a game during which it took 24 shots.

On the year, the Broncos have scored four goals on 101 shots while their opponents have netted five on 54 shots. The Broncos lack of a strong finishing touch could be a major achilles heal down the road.

This weekend, the team takes a trip to Florida for two tough matches against Florida International and James Madison. FIU is known as a tough team to play on its home pitch and James Madison was impressive in a 4-2 loss to top-ranked Southern Methodist earlier in the year. Both of these games will be important non conference tests for the Broncos as they begin to prepare for WCC games and hopefully a trip to the NCAA's.

While Coach Murray is aware of the challenges to be faced during the Florida trip, he sees greater problems for the Broncos in WCC play if the offense doesn't come around.

"Unless we score some goals, every game this season will be a challenge," Murray said.