Bronco Briefs
By Josh Griffin
Men's Soccer
The No. 22 men's soccer team won the Adidas Classic this past weekend at Buck Shaw Stadium by defeating cross-county rival San Jose State 2-0 and Cal State Fullerton 3-2, and improving their season record to 4-1.
Last Thursday night against San Jose State, Santa Clara took the lead once and for all on a goal from sophomore forward Will Weatherly, who scored for the second time on the season. Freshman Ryan Wolfe followed soon after with the first goal of his collegiate career. Sophomore goalie Steve Cronin shut out the Spartans on only one save.
The team came back Saturday night to defeat Fullerton in a high-scoring affair. Weatherly started the scoring with his third goal of the season, and junior midfielder Kirk Fonseca quickly added a second. Fullerton would pull it to 2-1, until freshman Kelechi Igwe notched his third goal of the year on an impressive line drive from 30 yards.
Fullerton answered with another goal from Adriano Lima, as the Titans closed the last 25 minutes playing a man down due to a red card.
Santa Clara will continue their season tonight at 7:30 p.m. against California at Buck Shaw Stadium. On Sunday, they will square off at 2:30 p.m. with No. 1 Stanford in Palo Alto, CA.
Cross Country
The Santa Clara men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Aggie Invitational this past Saturday at UC Davis, finishing second and sixth respectively among college teams. Seniors Thomas Chapman and Mike Helms led the men, finishing within 0.7 seconds of each other to place third and fourth among college students, and ninth and tenth overall.
The women's team ran without four of its top seven runners - Kim Bates, Robin Bell, Milena Basile and Courtney Daniels - but still managed to finish sixth among a competitive field of 12 college teams. Sophomore Katie Hansen led the Broncos, finishing 27th overall in the 5,000 meter race.
The Broncos return to competition at the Stanford Invitational, which starts at 4 p.m. on the Stanford Golf Course this Saturday.
Women's Soccer
The No. 6 women's soccer team finished the Stanford Nike Invitational at Maloney Field last weekend with one win and one tie. Friday night saw a double-overtime 2-2 tie with the Florida Gators, who Santa Clara defeated in last year's College Cup semifinals, bringing their record to 3-2-1 on the season.
Senior All-American Aly Wagner finished with a goal and an assist, with sophomore forward Megan Kakadelas scoring the other goal for Santa Clara. Freshman midfielder Micaela Esquivel narrowly missed on a shot attempt with ten seconds remaining in the second overtime period.
The Bronco offense broke out, and the defense managed a shutout, as Santa Clara improved to 4-2-1 with a 4-0 defeat over Oklahoma on Sunday at Maloney Field. Sophomore forward (name) had two goals and two assists, en route to being named WCC Player of the Week, and junior Kristi Candau added two more goals.
Santa Clara hosts the Adidas Classic this coming weekend, featuring No. 2 Stanford, No. 12 Tennessee, and Montana. They will play Montana Friday night at Buck Shaw Stadium at 7:30 p.m., and Tennessee Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Volleyball
The No. 19 volleyball team headed to Denver, Colorado for the Denver Invitational, coming away 2-1 on the weekend. After opening with a sweep over previously undefeated Maryland, the Broncos lost a close contest with No. 8 Minnesota, before bouncing back to sweep the University of Denver. Santa Clara closes the weekend 10-2, without having played a home game.
On Friday against the Terrapins of Maryland, freshmen Alyssa Lantz and Cassie Perret led Santa Clara with 13 and 15 kills respectively.
Saturday saw an intense match that Santa Clara lost 3-1, with final match scores of 28-30, 30-27, 27-30, and 27-30. Junior All-WCC performer Becky Potter registered her sixth double-double of the season, leading the team with 17 kills along with 10 digs.
The Broncos closed out the Invitational as rude guests, making quick work of the host Denver Pioneers to the tune of 30-16, 30-12, and 30-22. Santa Clara returns home for the first home game of the year this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Leavey Center against San Jose State.
Men's Water Polo
The men's water polo team suffered three losses in their three games at UC Santa Cruz this weekend, losing to Redlands, Division III No. 5 UC Santa Cruz, and Division III No. 2 LaVerne College. The team was outscored 29-17 on the weekend, and was led offensively by sophomore Nick Takahashi, who scored seven goals on the weekend.