Bronco Briefs: Women's soccer advances to third round
By Brian Betz
Women's Soccer
Santa Clara 5, Creighton 1
The sixth-seeded defending national champions opened their tournament run with a vengeance this past weekend, with matching 5-1 wins over Creighton and Arizona St. Junior forward Tracy Hess led the Broncos over Creighton with two goals in the second half, while senior midfielder Aly Wagner, sophomore forward Leslie Osborne and junior forward Kristi Candau accounted for the other three in the first half. The Broncos stayed on the offensive all game long, posting 18 corner kicks to the Bluejays' zero.
Santa Clara 5, Arizona State 1
The women carried their first round momentum into Sunday's showdown with Arizona St., as Candau netted two goals en route to a 5-1 win. The Sun Devils took a 1-0 lead into halftime, before the Broncos stormed back with four goals in a span of 10 minutes to take the match and advance to play Nebraska this Saturday in the third round of tournament play. Should the Broncos defeat the Cornhuskers, quarterfinal action is set for Nov. 29 or Dec. 1.
Men's Cross Country
14th Place at NCAA West Regional Championships
The men's squad ended a successful season this past Saturday at the NCAA West Regionals hosted by Stanford. The Broncos finished two spots higher than they did in last season's championship, placing 14th out of the 30 teams in the conference.
Senior Michael Helms led all Santa Clara runners, placing 61st in the field of 160 and finishing the 10,000-meter course in 32:21. Helms was followed by junior Benjamin Gauen and freshman John Hinman, who crossed the line just 13 seconds apart. Senior Thomas Chapman finished 86th while junior Dominic Ricci placed 104th.
Women's Cross Country
15th Place at NCAA West Regional Championships
Much like the men, the women ended their season on an inspirational note with their 15th place finish. Not only was their score of 455 team points enough to put them higher than the 13 other competing teams, but it was a vast improvement on last year's 21st place showing.
Once again, graduate student Kim Bates led the women with a 59th place finish in the 6,000-meter course. Sophomore Robin Bell was the next Bronco to cross in 86th place, followed by junior Milena Basile who finished 90th. Junior Courtney Daniels and sophomore Katie Hansen placed 107th and 124th, respectively.
Men's Basketball
Olympic Club 65, Santa Clara 64
With four key players absent due to various injuries, Dick Davey's troops battled the Olympic Club to a close loss Friday night. Without the presence of junior guard Kyle Bailey, sophomore forward Jordan Legge, freshman forward Scott Borchart and junior guard J.R. Patrick, the Broncos received double-digit scoring outputs from sophomore guards Bakari Altheiemer and Ethan Rohde, who scored 17 and 11 points, respectively.
Junior forward Jim Howell chipped in six, while dominating the low blocks with his game-high 17 rebounds. Ex-Stanford shooting guard Kris Weems led the Olympic Club with 27 points. Despite the loss, the Broncos will now look ahead to their season opener against the University of the Pacific on Nov. 22, where they will hopefully have Bailey, Legge and Borchart back in the lineup.
Women's Basketball
Santa Clara 76, Banksa Bystrica 48
The women jumped out to a 30-7 lead Friday night en route to defeating Banksa Bystrica, a Slovakian college team in their first and only exhibition match this preseason. Sophomore guard Quinn Thomas led the Broncos to the victory, finishing with 21 points while shooting five for eight from three-point land.
Without senior forwards Courtney Cushing and Julie Butler, three other Broncos scored in double figures to assist in the win. As a team the women shot nearly 51 percent from the field while going nine for 18 from behind the arc. The team begins their season this Friday, Nov. 22, at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
Men's Soccer
Santa Clara 3, LMU 0
The men's squad extended its winning streak to four games Saturday night, dominating the No. 10 Lions en route to a 3-0 shutout win. Possession was the name of the game, as the Broncos held Loyola Marymount University to just four shots to their 12. Freshman midfielder Jason Cunliffe opened the scoring in the 37th minute off of a senior forward Jamil Walker assist.
Freshman forward Kelechi Igwe ended his scoring drought with a 25-yard blast to the upper right corner, while sophomore forward Will Weatherly nailed the door shut with a late goal to seal the victory. Sophomore Kent Harkness was only forced to make two saves in the second half, as the Bronco defense held the Lions to two shots in that period. Santa Clara improves to 10-6-1 overall and evens their mark in WCC play to 3-3, but did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Women's Volleyball
Pepperdine 3, Santa Clara 2
Five games were needed to determine who would win the showdown for WCC supremacy, ending with the Waves taking the fifth game 15-13 and, consequently, the match. Junior middle blocker Becky Potter recorded a match-high 27 kills. Junior middle blocker Becky Biniek added nine kills while notching six blocks.
Freshman outside hitter Alyssa Lantz registered 17 kills and senior libero Chrissy Hirsch and senior defensive specialist Cindy Hirsch combined for 38 digs. The loss is only the second for the Broncos in WCC play, both coming at the hands of the Waves.
Santa Clara 3, LMU 2
Saturday night turned out to be equally as intense as Friday, with a match that went to a fifth game that the Broncos took by a score of 15-12. The seesaw match opened with a close 31-29 Lion win, marking just the second time the Broncos have dropped the first game all season. The Broncos took game two 30-21 before dropping game three 34-32. Santa Clara fought back, scoring nine of the last 17 points in the fourth to take that game by a score of 30-27. Potter again led the team with 34 kills, while Lantz chipped in 19. Chrissy Hirsch had a career-high and match-high 29 digs, while Cindy Hirsch added 13. Junior setter Kelli Sousa notched 70 assists. The Broncos improve to 23-4 on the year.
California 3, Santa Clara 2
After winning the first two games of Tuesday's match against Bay area foe California, the volleyball team lost the final three games to fall to 23-5 on the season.
Leading the way for the Broncos were Potter, who tallied 24 kills and Sousa, who finished the evening with 60 assists. The Broncos will conclude their regular season against San Francisco this Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Men's Water Polo
UC-Davis 15, Santa Clara 5
The Broncos were unable to avenge last week's loss to UC-Davis, as they fell to the Aggies by 10 goals Saturday.
Junior utility Logan Gee netted a hat trick to lead the Broncos, while freshmen drivers Jon Greco and Austin Brizgys accounted for the other two goals.
Two Aggie seniors scored three goals in their last home games at Hickey Pool. The loss drops the Broncos to 10-25 overall and marks their 10th straight loss.
UC-Santa Cruz 15, Santa Clara 8
The team tried to end the season on a positive note Saturday, but instead closed out their season with a 15-8 loss to Division III, fourth-ranked UC-Santa Cruz.
The Broncos kept the match close, going into the half down 7-5, but a lack of depth left Keith Wilbur's men tired in the second half.
Greco and Brizgys each tallied three goals, while sophomore netminder Peter Moore finished a busy day with 15 saves. Santa Clara ends the year with a 10-26 mark.