BRONCO BRIEFS
By Brian Betz
Women's Soccer
Santa Clara 2, UCLA 1
In an exciting match that pitted two perennial powerhouses of women's soccer against each other, the Broncos went down to Los Angeles and upset the 5th ranked Bruins with junior forward Kristi Candau's golden goal in the second minute of overtime. The women are no strangers to overtime affairs this season, with this being their third overtime win on the year. The win keeps them perfect on the year in sudden death situations, and stretches their overall winning streak to six. The star of the game, Candau, also assisted on senior midfielder Devvyn Hawkins' 67th minute goal that got the Broncos back in the match. Nearly 1,400 people were in attendance to see the Broncos notch the victory, in what was the first-ever game played under the lights at Drake Stadium.
USC 1, Santa Clara 0
Coming off of a motivational victory against UCLA, the women went into Soni McAllister Field with hopes of improving their record against Pac-10 opponents to 2-2. In a physical contest that saw 30 fouls registered, the Broncos allowed a goal in the last five minutes to eventually lose the match 1-0. The loss comes without the presence of senior midfielder Aly Wagner, who is still recovering from a strained right hamstring. The women come back to Buck Shaw stadium for their WCC opener this Friday against San Diego.
Men's cross country
3rd Place, SFSU Invitational
Junior Dominic Ricci led the way with his eighth place finish, as the Santa Clara men's cross country team placed third out of seven teams. Coach John Maloney refrained from racing his top four runners to help determine which runners will earn spots five through seven on the team's roster for the championship portion of the schedule. Freshmen Chris Doerhoff, Pat Green, John Paul Thyken and Colin Wood all ran strong, finishing one right after the other in places 14 through 17. Next up is the Bronco Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 19, at Crystal Springs Country Course in Belmont, Calif.
Women's cross country
5th Place, Willamette Invitational
In a meet that staged 50-55 teams from eight different states, the women performed very well in their race, finishing fifth out of the nine extremely talented Division I teams. Transfer senior Kim Bates was the Broncos' top finisher, finishing 11th place overall, while last season's WCC Freshman of the Year sophomore Robin Bell and junior captain Milena Basile crossed the finish line together in 37th and 38th place, respectively. The Vandals of Idaho had five runners in the top 16 en route to winning the invitational. The Salem event earned the women's team a great deal of credibility as more highly ranked Division I teams competed in the meet than ever before.
Men's Water Polo
Harvard 10, Santa Clara 5
Sophomore Nick Takahashi's hat trick wasn't enough for the Broncos to hold off a talented Harvard team, as they lost the match by a tally of 10-5. The defeat dropped the squad to 6-12 on the season. Junior J.P. Doucette and sophomore Mark Oda accounted for the other two goals, scoring one apiece. The men look to get back on track at the Convergence Tournament next weekend in Claremont, Calif.
Men's Soccer
Santa Clara 2, Brown 2
Sophomore forward Will Weatherly's 83rd minute goal helped the Broncos tie Brown 2-2 Friday night in their first match of the USF/Diadora Classic this past weekend. The overtime period proved stagnant as Brown failed to get a shot off on standout goalkeeper sophomore Steve Cronin, while the Broncos only managed one shot in their efforts.
Santa Clara 2, Harvard 0
The men capped off their tournament play on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Harvard. Senior forward Jamil Walker scored both goals for the Broncos, while the team played most of the game a man down due to an early red card. The defense was stellar, allowing only six shots on Cronin. The Broncos return home this Thursday night to face San Diego State at Buck Shaw Stadium.
Women's Volleyball
Santa Clara 3, San Diego 0
The 14th ranked Broncos looked impressive as they picked apart the Toreros in their WCC opener. Virtually every match-high statistic came from Santa Clara players, most notably junior middle blocker Becky Potter's 19 kills and senior libero Chrissy Hirsch's 13 digs. Freshman outside hitter Cassie Perret, freshman middle blocker Alyssa Lantz and junior middle blocker Becky Biniek all recorded over 10 kills apiece, while junior setter Kelli Sousa had 54 assists. As a team, the Broncos posted a .346 hitting percentage which helped them move their season mark to 12-2.
Santa Clara 3, Saint Mary's 1
A night after their convincing win over San Diego, the women took on local rival Saint Mary's at home in the Leavey Center. After winning games one and two, the Broncos dropped game three before rallying to take game four and the match. Potter had a career-high 30 kills to go along with her match-high 19 digs. Sousa improved her nation's second best assist mark to 14.73 a game, while Perret, Lantz and Biniek finished with 16, 10 and 14 kills, respectively. The Broncos get set to head north and continue WCC play this weekend to take on Gonzaga and Portland.