SANTA CLARA, Calif. – 

The San Jose Earthquakes reserves defeated Santa Clara University 3-0 at Buck Shaw Stadium on Tuesday afternoon in a midday scrimmage. Three second-half goals provided the difference as the reserves used the event to maintain their match fitness.
The first half of the 80-minute match was an end-to-end affair with San Jose creating the majority of chances. Rookie goalkeeper David Bingham was in the net for San Jose, but was tested sparsely. The best chance of the first half came on a set piece, as Ike Opara rose high to meet a corner kick, but his effort thundered off the crossbar and out of play.
The teams went into the break at 0-0 despite San Jose’s dominance, but used their midseason form to open things up in the second half. The Broncos are still in their pre-season, but looked strong at times against a San Jose backline that featured four players with first team experience this season.
The first goal, a spectacular bicycle kick finish from Matt Luzunaris, was created via a goalkeeping error which left the ball at the feet of Rafael Baca. Baca misfired on a volley toward the net that popped into the air and, with the goalie out of position, Luzunaris jumped with his back to goal and sent the ball bouncing into the net.
Five minutes later, the Quakes struck again with Baca at the heart of the play. His probing run through the middle ended with a pass wide on the right to Joey Gjertsen, who came on at half time. Gjertsen cut inside and sprayed a pass across the field to Ellis McLoughlin, who collected the ball on the left and fired a shot with his left foot to the far post. The Santa Clara goalkeeper got a touch to the ball, but couldn’t get enough on it to deflect away, and the ball nestled into the far corner of the net.
McLoughlin doubled his total just before the whistle for full time. After a long spell of possession, the ball ended up on the feet of Gjertsen. He played a ball down the sideline to the overlapping Steven Beitashour, who played the ball back to Sam Cronin. Cronin split two defenders with a pass back to Beitashour before the defender drove the ball to the near post. McLoughlin timed his run to perfection, beating his defender and the goalkeeper to the ball, and sent his shot into the roof of the net.
San Jose’s first team will be back in action on Saturday against the New England Revolution at Buck Shaw Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. live on CSNCA.
Starting Lineups:

Santa Clara – Kevin Klasila, Mykell Bates, Gabriel Romero, Mark Daus, Wesley Culver, Eric Masch, Carlos Montes, Murphy Campbell, Brandon Zimmerman, Connor Mitchell, Erik Hurtado.
San Jose Earthquakes – David Bingham, Steven Beitashour, Ike Opara, Bobby Burling, Justin Morrow, Omar Jasseh, Sam Cronin, Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Rafael Baca, Matt Luzunaris, Ellis McLoughlin.
