SANTA CLARA, California – The HBU men's soccer team lost their last non-conference match of the year to Santa Clara at Stevens Stadium on Friday night, 1-1.
The Huskies (2-5) and Broncos (5-1) were in a battle of possession for the first 30 minutes of the match, as both team studied each other's defense trying to figure out which attacking lanes would work best. Husky midfielder
Luis Poblacion tried to put HBU ahead in the 31
st minute by launching a shot from nearly midfield in an attempt to catch Santa Clara's goalkeeper Andreu Cases Mundet sleeping, but he was able to retreat back towards his line to make the save.
The Broncos struck first, in the 36
th minute, when Tyrone Kirunda sent a ball into the box that was deflected high into the air by a Husky defender, but Oladyo Thomas was able to connect with his head and put it past a sliding
Gustavo Otero for the first goal of the night. The Broncos' took their 1-0 lead into halftime.
The Huskies capitalized on some sloppy passing by Santa Clara early in the second half to even things at 1-1. In the 50
th minute, a pass got away from Santa Clara's Mundet in their own defensive third, that was intercepted by HBU midfielder
Sebastian Cochrane. Cochrane passed to forward
Nathan Karmbor, who was near the corner of the 18-yard box, who quickly found
Bryant Farkarlun at the top of the box to send a shot past the diving Mundet and into the back of the net.
It was a busy second half offensively for the Broncos who mustered up 15 total shots in the half. A Husky foul in the 64
th minute set the Broncos' up for a free kick from just outside of the 18-yard box. Santa Clara's Javier Ruiz Duran sent a shot bending around the Husky wall towards the far post, but Otero made a full-extension save to keep the game tied at one.
It was an 86
th minute goal by Dylan Bartlett on a ball played into the box by Julian Bravo that put Santa Clara on top 2-1 and ended the Huskies chance at forcing overtime.
For the game, the Broncos held the advantage in total shots and shots on goal, 18(5)-2(2) and corner kick opportunities 6-0. HBU's Otero made one save on the night.
JP Becerra came in for an injured Otero in the 75
th minute and finished with two saves for the Huskies. Cochrane and Karmbor each tallied an assist, their first and second on the season respectively.
The Huskies return home to Sorrels Field to open up Western Athletic Conference play against UIW next Saturday (9/25). Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
