Pilots grounded

By Chris Furnari

Not a single one of the 13 wins secured by the Santa Clara women's soccer team this season was bigger than last Thursday's 3-2 victory over Portland, the defending national champions.

"We took a big step forward towards our goal of winning the conference championship," said head coach Jerry Smith.

Not even the hype of a nationally televised match could shake the Broncos, as they out shot their opponents 14-7 in the win.

With the victory, they put themselves back in contention to win the West Coast Conference and gain a top seed in the NCAA tournament.

"Our freshmen did a great job of handling the pressure of a big game," said forward Meagan Snell.

Snell, although she won't admit it, was the main reason the Broncos were able defeat the No. 7 ranked team in the nation which featured the WCC's top goal scorer, Michelle Enyeart.

Santa Clara fought back after an early Enyeart goal gave the Pilots a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Not to be outdone, Snell was able to draw a penalty kick nine minutes later, after she was tripped up in the 18-yard box by Portland defender Emily Michaelson.

Enter Marian Dalmy, who tied the game with a blast to the lower left corner of the net, beating Portland goalkeeper Cori Alexander on the penalty kick. The score knotted the game at 1-1.

Snell wasted no time in putting the Broncos ahead, as she converted a pass from Lauren Zealear into a goal, her 11th of the season, just seven minutes after drawing the penalty kick.

"I just wanted to help out my team so bad," said Snell. "Once Zealear sent over the ball I just did the easy thing and put it in the corner of the net."

Santa Clara led 2-1 at the half, giving the 1,900 fans in attendance something to scream about.

"I think the crowd played a big role in us winning the game," said Smith. "It was great to see them out with their drums and have them behind us."

Freshman Kiki Bosio agreed the crowd played a big role.

"It was amazing to have the home crowd behind us. They were great," said freshman Kiki Bosio.

Bosio scored what eventually would be the game winning goal as she blasted a shot past Alexander into the lower left corner of the net.

"I haven't been scoring lately, so it felt great to break the dry streak," said Bosio.

Bosio's goal proved to be pivotal, as the Pilots made a late run, scoring in the 83rd minute to make the score 3-2. The Broncos finished the game, thwarting a few Portland attempts to tie and improving their home record versus the Pilots to 10-1-1.

The win over Portland is not only huge for the Broncos conference standings, but also for their eventual return to the NCAA tournament.

"This game could have a huge impact on the NCAA seeding," said Smith. "It's going to be us, UCLA, or Portland that is given the top seed from the west region, and we have now beaten both of them."

The Broncos carried the momentum gained from the Portland victory to crush an under matched Gonzaga in a 6-2 home victory.

Both Brittany Klein and Jordan Angeli netted a pair of goals, while rookies Bosio and Lexi Orand each scored their third goals of the season.

The two Bronco victories put them in excellent position to take home a WCC championship, as they head into their final two games of the season.

The win, coupled with a Pepperdine loss to San Francisco this past Sunday, puts Santa Clara in a three-way tie with both Portland and Pepperdine for first place in the WCC.

"Should there be a tie between any two teams, each team would own a share of the championship," said Smith.

The Broncos will face San Francisco Sunday Oct. 29 in their last home game of the year. Santa Clara then heads to Saint Mary's on Nov. 4 to conclude regular season play.

"It's really important this time of the season to have positive results," said Smith. "We want to be riding some good momentum going into the NCAA tournament."

If momentum is what the Broncos are looking for, they have certainly found it.

However, the Broncos must continue this style of play if they wish to make the final four in the NCAA tournament, a feat which at this point seems very feasible.

Contact Chris Furnari at (408) 551-1918 or cfurnari@scu.edu.