Gonzaga University
Santa Clara
Late Goal Dooms MSOC vs. Santa Clara
11/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SPOKANE, Wash. â€" The Gonzaga men's soccer team took a tough loss late in the match on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 defeat against Santa Clara at Luger Field.
The teams played to a scoreless tie through the first half and well into the second before the Broncos made good on a long pass over the defense to score the only goal of the match in the 85th minute. The loss was Gonzaga's fourth in a row, with two coming by the same 1-0 deficit.
"Our focus today was to keep them out of the net and we did that well for most of the match, but we just needed to score," head coach Einar Thorarinsson said. "We were disappointed on Friday giving up three goals. That was uncharacteristic of us. But moving forward we'll focus on finishing the season strong."
Gonzaga outshot Santa Clara in the game 10-7 overall, while each team had four shots on goal. The Zags created chances in the second half with eight of the team's 10 shots coming after halftime.
Jakob Granlund had four shots with one on goal, while Graison Le managed three shots, including a team-best two on goal.
In net, goalkeeper Chris Lowrimore made three saves, including one in the first half from point-blank range by diving to his left to deny the Broncos' Valdema Andersen.
The Broncos were the ones that were able to knock home the goal, however, as Andersen played a long ball high and over the defense from behind midfield. SCU's Carlos Delgadillo let the ball bounce high once and then went up and put his head on it just before Lowrimore could make a play coming out of the goal.
The loss drops Gonzaga to 6-9-1 on the season and 1-4-0 in the West Coast Conference. Santa Clara is now 7-8-1, 3-1-1 on the season.
The Zags have just two games remaining on the schedule including the team's final home game up next on Sunday, Nov. 8. The game will serve as Gonzaga's Senior Day as they take on Saint Mary's at 1 p.m.
