Bronco Briefs
By Brian Betz
Women's Soccer
Pepperdine 1, Santa Clara 0The defending national champions lost to Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., for the second consecutive year, and this time played without the presence of All-American senior Aly Wagner in the midfield.
No. 12 Pepperdine scored a goal in the 47th minute en route to preserving the shutout for the Waves, who now move into a tie with the Broncos atop the WCC. Pepperdine, who has only lost one game this entire season, elevated to ninth in the national polls after the victory over Santa Clara.
Santa Clara 1, LMU 0
Coming off of the disappointing loss to Pepperdine, the women were victorious over Loyola Marymount on Saturday, with a 1-0 final score.
The goal came in the 20th minute, when sophomore defender Lana Bowen took junior forward Kristi Candau's cross and put it away for her first of the season. The play was initially disputed until the linesman ruled that it had completely crossed over the plane of the goal.
Sophomore goalkeeper Alyssa Sobolik was rarely contested all day between the pipes for Santa Clara, as every one of Loyola Marymount's shots were well off target.
Santa Clara improves their record to 12-4-1 overall, with a 4-1 record in the WCC. The women now travel north for a huge date with Portland. The match is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast live on KSCU 103.3 FM.
Men's Soccer
USD 2, Santa Clara 1
The Broncos dropped another heartbreaking WCC match this past weekend in San Diego, losing to the Toreros of the University of San Diego 2-1.
The one-goal loss is the third in as many tries, while the men are still looking for their first win in WCC play.
Their overall record falls 6-6-1, with three of those losses coming in conference play.
Two early San Diego goals put the Toreros up 2-0 within the first 15 minutes, while outshooting the Broncos 10-6 in the first half.
The second half was a much different story as Santa Clara tallied eight more shots than the Toreros, highlighted by senior forward Jamil Walker's ninth goal of the season in the 82nd minute.
The late surge, however, would not produce an equalizer as the Broncos fell one goal short of sending the match into overtime. The men will look to make a turnaround at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium against Saint Mary's.
Women's Volleyball
Santa Clara 3, USF 0
All it took was one hour and 17 minutes for the women to avenge their loss to Pepperdine, as the Broncos easily defeated the Dons by scores of 30-14, 30-16 and 30-23.
Junior setter Kelli Sousa continued her stellar play as one of the nation's premiere setters, recording 44 assists along with her match high 17 digs.
As a team, the women held San Francisco to a .067 hitting percentage while forcing the Dons to commit 24 errors. Middle blockers freshman Alyssa Lantz and junior Becky Potter finished with 16 kills apiece, while leading the team to a .372 hitting percentage.
The Broncos improved their -record to 17-3 in their victory over the Dons. They head to Southern California for another showdown at the University of San Diego on Saturday night. San Diego enters the match 20-5, having lost one of those matches to Santa Clara earlier this season at the Leavey Center.
Men's Water Polo
Pacific 15, Santa Clara 3
The loss suffered at the hands of the No. 8 Tigers does not pay respect to how well the Broncos played this past Saturday against a talented opponent.
Sophomore goalkeeper Peter Moore was put to the test all game, finishing with 11 saves. The only Santa Clara goals came from freshmen, as two meter Whit Gilfillan recorded two while utility Marc Hausle added another.
The loss to University of the Pacific moves the water polo team to 10-16 on the year. They now travel to Honolulu, Hawaii, to participate in a three-day tournament beginning Nov. 1, where they will play BYU-Hawaii, Cal Baptist and Chaminade.