Broncos compete at Olympic level

By Joe Doss-Antoun

The Santa Clara soccer program is no stranger to extraordinary talent, and the list of former players is all the evidence one needs to make such a bold statement.

Many former athletes, such as Joe Cannon, Ryan Cochrane, Brandi Chastain and Aly Wagner, have gone on after graduation and played in even bigger arenas like the Major League Soccer and World Cup.

This tradition of Bronco athletes playing at the national level is still being carried on today.

Currently, there are four Bronco soccer players that compete at the national level. Amaechi Igwe and Stephen McCarthy play on the U-20 men's team, while Amanda Poach and Jordan Angeli have spent the past eight months with the U-20 women's team.

Igwe and McCarthy's national careers began Oct. 8, when they participated in a training camp with other U-20 teammates, 11 of whom already play professionally.

The most notable was MLS star Freddy Adu.

"It was crazy going in there because seven of us were from college, but the rest were pros", said McCarthy. "I was sitting there next to Freddy Adu thinking about how I watched him play on TV all summer."

The four-day camp culminated with a match against Haiti's U-23 national team. McCarthy and Igwe both saw significant time on the field en route to a 5-1 United States victory.

"We had Freddy and all of these big name, attacking guys, so me and Amaechi sat back on defense and distributed the ball to them and watched them go," said McCarthy.

While the training camp was McCarthy's first exposure to the national level, Igwe is a veteran of the national scene, as he has been playing with the national team since the U-16 level.

Recalling his first invitation to U-16 national team, Igwe said, "The national coach saw me play in a tournament in Costa Rica. I was really hoping to make the team because so many of the guys on the national team are so talented, and a couple of weeks later they called me in."

Igwe said he gained valuable experience from the experience, and realized that he had to work harder if he was going to become a mainstay with the national team program.

"We went to the World Championships when we were at the U-17 level and we played Korea, Ivory Coast, Holland, and Italy," said Igwe. "I feel like that was the year I really came out and earned a spot on the team."

The Igwe family is no stranger to national competition. Amaechi's sister, Chioma, who plays for the Bronco women's soccer team, has experience on the U-19 national team.

In addition, Amaechi's father represented Nigeria in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, and captained the Nigerian team in the World Cup, qualifying in 1969 and 1973, where he played against Pele.

Like Amaechi Igwe, sophomore Amanda Poach has much experience playing nationally. Poach was first called upon by the U-16 national coach when she was 14-years-old. Since then, she has competed for the U-17, U-19 and U-20 teams.

Poach was joined by teammate Jordan Angeli this past summer.

"It's such an amazing experience to represent your country and it really does give you more pride for being an American," said Angeli.

The two played with the U-20 team from January through September of this year, and even took off the spring quarter to focus on their commitment to the national team.

In the U-20 World Cup this past summer, the United States beat rival Germany 4-1 to advance to the semifinals in late August.

"Going into the game nobody knew what to expect because both teams were really good, but we blew them away," said Poach. "After that game I really felt like we were going to win it all."

However, the United State's run at the championship ended in the next round, as they lost to China on penalty kicks. A loss a few days later left the team with a fourth place finish.

"I do think about it and it's hard to get over for me. Putting so much into something and not getting the results you wanted is disappointing," said Angeli.

Due to the timing of the World Championships in Russia, Angeli and Poach were unable to participate in the first four matches of this season.

The men's team felt a similar effect from the losses of Igwe and McCarthy.

"When you recruit players of the quality that we get, you have to understand that they'll have the opportunity to do things at a higher level, and I'm certainly not here to hold them back from that," said men's head coach Cameron Rast.

Rast was also a U-20 national team member when he played for Santa Clara in the late 1980's. Rast also captained the U.S. team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

This experience, as well as his coaching experience, has helped Rast identify possible national team players.

"As a coaching staff, we're very aware of what they're looking for, so national team coaches trust us with our knowledge of who might do well for them," said Rast.

The four current Bronco soccer players that compete on the national level remain uncertain about their future with their respective national teams.

Igwe and McCarthy showed their ability at the training camp and will continue to do so throughout their Bronco careers. If impressed with either of the players, the national coach will call them back to join the team in December to compete in the 2007 United States U-20 final round qualifying tournament in Mexico and Panama.

"Both of those guys can fulfill certain roles on the national team," said Rast. "So they both have a good shot at it, but at the same time they both need to continue to play well and improve their games while playing for us right now."

Angeli is no longer eligible to play on the U-20 team due to her age. However, in three of her four appearances she shined, recording two assists.

While she enjoyed her time representing her country, Angeli continues to hold out hope for making the U-21 team, which participates in the Nordic Cup every summer.

Amanda Poach still qualifies for the U-20 team, but she won't know her fate until she gets a call from the national team coaches.

Poach started two of the five games she participated in this past year with the U-20 team. In those games, she recorded one goal and one assist.

"I'd love to stick with it if I had the opportunity," said Poach. "Right now, though, my focus is on school and the Santa Clara team, so I'm just going to work hard here and see where it takes me."

Other women playing for Santa Clara who have been selected to the 2006 U-20 women's national team pool include Brittany Klein, Courtney Lewis, and Hayley Siegel. Unlike Poach and Angeli, who were officially members of the U-20 roster, Klein, Lewis, and Siegel remain on the national team coach's radar for future training camp invitations.

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.