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Funkhouser's Overtime Goal Drops Santa Clara 2-1
Oct. 5, 2008
SPOKANE, Wash. - Junior Ben Funkhouser drilled a 30-yard shot past Santa Clara University (2-6-2; 0-2-0) keeper Kevin Klasila Sunday afternoon to give Gonzaga University (5-4-1; 2-1-0) a 2-1 overtime victory in a West Coast Conference men's soccer match at Gonzaga Soccer Field. Funkhouser's goal at 97:33 was his second career match-winning goal, the other coming last year at home against the University of Washington. Funkhouser took a pass from Nick Love, dribbled to avoid a pair of Broncos defenders and rifled a low, hard left-footed shot from the left wing that caught the far side of the net past Klasila. The victory came on the heels of a tough 1-0 loss Friday against the University of San Francisco. The Broncos were swept on their Pacific Northwest swing after dropping a 4-1 match Friday at the University of Portland. It was the second time since the WCC went to a double round robin format in 2004 that Gonzaga and Portland had swept SCU in the Northwest, the other in 2005. It's also the first time the Broncos have started 0-2-0 in WCC play since 2002 when they lost 2-1 in double overtime at Portland and 1-0 at Gonzaga during the days of single round robin play, the only other time SCU has been swept on a Northwest swing. The Bulldogs victory was also a little revenge for last season when the Broncos downed Gonzaga 1-0 in double overtime on the final day of the regular season in Spokane, the decisive goal coming at 109:16. Gonzaga is tied for first in the WCC with USF, which won at Portland Sunday for a 2-0-0 start. Gonzaga and USF each have six points after the first full weekend of WCC play. The Bulldogs tied Sunday's match at 80:40 when Mitchell Weller scored his second goal of the season. Nick Heinrichs fed a pass to Funkhouser who led Weller with a thru ball up the middle for a shot from the top of the 18.
The Broncos had taken the 1-0 halftime lead at 42:59 when Kellen Wantulok scored his second goal of the season following a Gonzaga giveaway in the defensive zone. Connor Mitchell fed a perfect cross from the right wing to the middle and Wantulok beat Gonzaga keeper Scott Barnum with a low, hard shot from 12 yards. The only other solid scoring chance in regulation was by the Bulldogs, Funkhouser taking a shot from the left side inside the 18 that Klasila made a chest-high save on in the 88th minutes. Both teams had excellent chances to end the match early in the overtime. Gonzaga's Conor Baranski had a shot under pressure from the left top corner of the 6-yard box that sailed high in the 93rd minute. Two minutes later the Broncos Keith Cowdrey blasted a low, hard shot from the top of the 18 following a SCU free kick, Barnum making a diving save to his right for the catch save that denied SCU any attempt at a rebound. Gonzaga head coach Einar Thorarinsson wouldn't go as far as to say Sunday was a must-win for his club, but he was obviously relieved with the victory. "We're playing well enough to win matches," Thorarinsson said. "I thought we played well enough Friday to win. But we give the ball away at the wrong times, and part of that is inexperience. We gave a ball away today that led to what could have been a game-winning goal. But this team is resilient. I said that coming into the season and they proved it again today." The Bulldogs held a 15-9 edge in shots, a somewhat deceiving statistic as both teams launched long, harmless shots into the offensive zone in hopes of creating a break. Barnum had just two saves in the Bulldogs net, while Klasila had five saves for the Broncos. After 19 fouls were called in the first half - eight in the first 8:00 - the teams settled down and only 10 fouls were called in the second half and overtime combined. Gonzaga is back on the road next weekend, playing at the University of San Diego on Friday at 7 p.m. and at Loyola Marymount University Sunday at 2 p.m. |
