Broncos focus on WCC

By Cecile Nguyen

The women's soccer team is hoping to rebound from a difficult season mired by injuries and once again reign supreme as West Coast Conference Champions.

The Broncos finished last year with an overall record of 12-6-3 and were 4-3-0 in conference play. They placed third in the WCC.

Last year, the team was ranked as high as No. 1 in September before injuries got the best of them. The Broncos finished their 2007 season ranked No. 22.

Santa Clara earned their 19th consecutive NCAA tournament berth before being bounced in the first round by UC Berkeley. It was their second straight year being ousted in the first round of the tourney -- they lost 1-0 to the University of Southern California last year.

In the WCC Coaches' Preseason Poll, Santa Clara was picked to finish second behind the University of Portland.

The Broncos lost five players to graduation, including Soccer Buzz All-West Region first team member and team captain Brittany Klein, Tina Estrada and Chioma Igwe. The team will be looking to junior captains Kiki Bosio and Katherine Reynolds, along with sophomore captain Maxine Goynes for leadership this year.

Bosio was named to the All-WCC first team and NCAA All-West second team after finishing her 2007 season with a team-leading 20 points and tied for first on the team in goals. The forward was also picked to the Hermann Trophy Watch List. The Hermann Trophy is soccer's equivalent to college football's Heisman Trophy.

But so far, opponents have been able to keep the dangerous Bosio off the scoreboard. She has been limited to just one assist through nine games.

Injuries were a constant theme for the team last year and the Broncos will be short-handed once again as they lost redshirt senior Jordon Angeli and midfielder Amanda Poach to season-ending injuries for the second consecutive year.

Without Angeli and Poach in the starting lineup, this year's team will have a very young look. With the exception of goalkeepers Meagan McCray and Lisa Lahman, there are no other seniors on the lineup.

So far this season the Broncos have a record of 3-5-1 and have not won since September 7 at Cal State Fullerton.

Santa Clara is looking to get back into the win column this week, but will find a challenging match-up when they play the undefeated No. 2 UC Los Angeles Thursday at Buck Shaw and No. 23 UC Berkeley Sunday in Berkeley, Calif.

Contact Cecile Nguyen at (408) 551-1918 or sports@thesantaclara.com