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By Andy States
Content Manager, DigitalSports.com

With Brendan Duffy's header into the net, the Gonzaga Purple Eagles took a 2-0 second-lead at Saint Mary's Ryken on Thursday afternoon. Strangely enough, for a time it seemed the Knights had the Purple Eagles right where they wanted them.

"As my assistant coach said at the end, it's the most dangerous lead in soccer because you get a little complacent," Gonzaga coach Scott Waller said of the 2-0 advantage. "We sat on our heels a little bit."

Ryken cut the lead in half and furiously charged for the tying goal through the game's final 20 minutes. But, whether it was as pretty as they would have liked or not, the visiting Purple Eagles held on for a 2-1 win.

"They say 2-0 is the most dangerous lead to have in a soccer game and [Ryken] proved that," said Gonzaga senior Danny Rice. "They came back at us, didn't let up."

Scoreless through a half, Gonzaga (14-1-1) jumped on Ryken (9-7-1) for two quick goals with the first eight minutes of the second half. John McMurray tallied first off of a corner kick in the game's 43rd minute, while Brendan Duffy struck on a header four minutes later.

With the two-goal disadvantage, Ryken struck back when Addison Goodley planted a header in the top right corner to cut the deficit in half. Following the goal, the Knights produced many opportunities to pull even but were never able to finish the job.

"We played well in the first half. We moved the ball around well," Rice said. "We kind of let them back into it, but then again we got the result that we came here for."

"Getting a win here has always been tough for us," Waller added. "We have a little bit of a target on our back here, I think, because they're a good team and they're similar to us in the way they play. They got really up for this game, you could tell. If they got up for every game like that I think they would be easily the third-best team in the league this year."

The trip to Ryken always is a difficult one, according to Waller. In addition to the Knights being a quality team, it's a two-hour bus ride for the Purple Eagles and the field is not friendly to visiting teams, being small and not the smoothest of playing surfaces.

"The field is a great equalizer," Waller said. "We're used to playing a little more control of a game. First 10 minutes of the game we played very well, controlled the ball and played how we wanted to play. Then all of a sudden we lost our luster.

"We have to get the cobwebs out when we come down here. It's a good win here, anytime."

The win was necessary, too, as the Purple Eagles attempt to nail down another WCAC championship. Gonzaga and DeMatha remain as the only teams still without a loss in conference play this season. The teams tied, 2-2, in meeting No. 1 on Sept. 24, and are set to meet again in the regular season finale on Oct. 24.

"We're staying undefeated in WCAC and that's all we need to focus on right now," Rice said. "Every result counts."

Gonzaga 2, Ryken 1
G    0    2
R    0    1
Goals
Gonzaga: McMurray, Duffy
Ryken: Goodley