#16 Santa Clara (11-1-4, 5-0-2)
The Broncos ended their regular season with a scoreless draw at Loyola Marymount (12-4-2, 4-2-1) on Saturday night. The Broncos limited most of their regular starters to spot duty in order to prepare for the NCAA tournament.
The Lions outshot the Broncos 42-3 and had a 22-1 advantage in corner kicks.
The Lions came close to scoring in the 43rd minute, when Narciso Cervantes took a shot from the top of box that was headed for the far post, until Stoecker got a hand on it and sent it over the endline.
The Lions also had a chance for a golden goal in the 96th minute, when Stoecker smothered a shot from Creggton Charlton from within the 6-yard box.
Saint Mary’s (11-6-1, 4-2-1)
The Gaels ground out a 1-0 win at home over San Diego (2-15-0, 1-6-0) in a match with few chances for either side.
Gaels’ goalkeeper Zack Littman earned his first career start and made 5 saves in keeping a clean sheet. His best save came in the 23rd minute, when Toreros earned a free kick from just outside the penalty area, after a foul by Jan Marpe. Two Toreros approached the ball. Ross Johnston ran past it, while Mason Tunbridge took a left-footed shot that forced Littman to make a diving save and push the ball away with both hands.
The Gaels nearly won the match in the 87th minute when a backward heel flick from Tyler Hardin set up Cade Cowan at the edge of the penalty arc. Cowan teed the ball up on his left foot and blasted a shot that went over the head of goalkeeper Marley Mascarenas, bounced off of the crossbar, and boomeranged back into the arc.
Saint Mary’s broke through with a few seconds left in the first overtime, when a one-timer from Boyd Curry and hit the forearm of San DIego’s Kai Peterson in the penalty area. Sebastian Schacht converted the subsequent penalty kick, ending his collegiate career a perfect 6 for 6 from the spot.
Cal (3-9-3, 1-6-1) vs. Stanford (6-6-6, 2-4-4)
This season’s Berkeley edition of the Big Classico ended in a 1-1 draw on Thursday afternoon.
The Bears took the lead in the 19th minute, when Christopher Grey scored the first goal of his college career in his final collegiate match. Lucas Churchill passed the ball to Alonzo Del Mundo at the edge of the midfield circle. Del Mundo switched the ball to his left foot and fired a pass to Grey making his run down the left side. As a Stanford defender came up to challenge him, Grey cut back toward the middle and took the shot with the outside of his left foot to add extra backspin and get it past goalkeeper Matt Frank.
Cal nearly doubled the lead in the 35th minute, when a cross found Nate Carrasco unmarked at the left post, but his shot deflected off of Frank and hit the crossbar.
The Cardinal equalized in the 48th minute on a piece of individual magic from Ousseni Bouda. Carlo Agostinelli fed Gabe Segal as he made his run along the right side. Bouda tracked down Segal’s cross as it was drifting toward the endline and headed it back across the goalmouth and into the net from an almost impossible angle.
The Cardinal outshot the Golden Bears 29-10. Cal goalkeeper Chris Gustini made 8 saves, including 3 in the two 10-minute overtime periods. They included a pair of shots by Zach Ryan in the 93rd and 101st minute and another from point blank range by Keegan Tingey in the 94th minute.
San José State (10-7-3, 7-2-2)
SJSU Takes On Grand Canyon
Three goals in the final 15 minutes enabled top-seeded Grand Canyon (15-3-0, 9-2-0) to earn a 4-1 win over the Spartans in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.
The first half remained scoreless, but the Spartans’ Willy Miranda had two scoring chances early, when his header from close range hit the crossbar in the 7th minute and goalkeeper Anthony Munoz made a sliding tackle to smother Miranda’s close-range shot in the 16th.
The Lopes broke through in the 56th minute when Shaun-Chris Joash chased down a long pass at the left side of the penalty area, marked by the Spartans’ Kameron Bolden. Joash faked to his right, shifted to his left, and sent a low left footed strike across the penalty area that settled inside the far post, just beyond the reach of goalkeeper David Sweeney.
Rudi Castro was inches away from an equalizer in the 61st minute, when his left-footed strike hit the outside of the post and headed over the end line.
Grand Canyon doubled its margin in the 75th minute, when Rey Gaytan intercepted a pass intended for a San Jose State defender. Sweeney rushed out to the edge of the 6-yard box, but couldn’t reach Gaytan’s low right-footed blast.
The Spartans came back 73 seconds later on another spectacular goal from Castro. Castro ran onto a header from Miranda just outside the penalty arc and fired a curving one-timer that beat Munoz at the left post.
The Lopes put the match away in the 83rd minute when Maximilian Moeller received a cross from Marco Afonso, encountered a group of Spartan defenders, and laid the ball off for an unmarked Cameron Weller on the left side. His low strike went under Sweeney and into the net.
And Grand Canyon added another in the 88th minute, when Esai Easley made a run along the right side and fed Marios Andreou on the overlap. Andreou’s low cross found Justin Rasmussen for the tap-in at the far post.
Spartans Advance in WAC Tournament with Win Over Utah Valley
The fourth-seeded Spartans overcame a two-goal deficit to earn a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Utah Valley University (9-6-2, 6-4-0) on Wednesday afternoon.
The Wolverines opened the scoring in the 4th minute, when Evans Armah played a give-and-go with Jojea Kwizera. Armah received the return pass at the edge of the 6-yard box and sent a short cross to James Peña for the tap-in at the far post.
Utah Valley doubled their lead in the 13th minute, when Kwizera made a run down the left side and played another give-and-go with Armah. Kwizera extended his run into the penalty area and delivered the ball to an unmarked Aaron Nixon for a right-footed shot that settled inside the right post.
The Spartans got a break in the 21st minute, when Mateo Palomino committed a foul in the penalty area. Max Allen converted the subsequent penalty kick, which grazed off of the underside of the crossbar and into the net.
The Wolverines responded a little more than 2 minutes later on the counterattack. Peña received a pass near midfield, flicked it on to Aaron Nixon, who flicked it to Kwizera, who got behind the Spartans’ backline and released a left-footed shot that was out of the reach of Spartans goalkeeper David Sweeney.
The Spartans chipped away at the deficit in the 29th minute, when Omar Lemus nutmegged the defender and found Ryota Nakashima for a quick strike at the near post.
Rudi Castro evened the match in the 41st minute with a free kick from beyond the penalty area that sailed over the head of a Wolverine defender and curved into the upper left-hand corner of the net. The kick earned the #6 spot on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top-Ten Plays of the Day.
The Spartans finally took the lead for good in the 55th minute, when Willy Miranda won a loose ball in the penalty area and played a give-and-go with Nakashima. Miranda received the return pass at the top of the 6-yard box and blasted a right-footed shot just inside the right post.
Sweeney made 2 saves in the final 35 minutes of the match to preserve the lead, including shots by Samuel Krommenhoek in the 70th minute and Diego Castillo 8 minutes later.
USF (2-13-1, 0-6-1)
A frustrating season for the Dons came to an end with a 1-0 loss at Portland (10-6-1, 4-2-1) on Saturday night.
The Pilots scored the only goal of the match in the 11th minute. Luke Hendel took a free kick from the left side and found Delentz Pierre who headed the ball toward the far post. Goalkeeper Brandon Keniston was able to deflect the ball away from the goal line, but R.J. Stretch grabbed the rebound and blasted a shot from close range that went in between Keniston’s legs and into the net.
The Dons stepped up their offensive game in the second half and nearly equalized in the 89th minute, when goalkeeper George Tasouris showed off his quick reflexes, diving to turn away a shot by Nathan Simeon from point blank range.
