Women Keep Rolling as No. 1
By Brian Elsner
The skillful duo of senior forwards Jacqui Little and Mandy Clemens continued to climb up the Bronco scoring charts. Coming off her Offensive MVP showing in the Nike Classic last weekend, Little scored two goals while Clemens added a goal late in the contest to give the Broncos their second conference victory of the season. Clemens added three assists in the contest.
The assists moved Clemens to first on the all-time scoring list in the history of Bronco soccer, passing Santa Clara great Jenni Symons (1988), with 164 points. Little's two goals gave her 52 in her career, good for fourth on the all-time list, and Clemens is currently third with 55 goals.
"We are playing really well together this year," Little said. "We tend to help each other out."
Clemens and Little's heroics proved even more impressive because the Gaels' defense allowed only three goals this season going into the match against the Broncos. Freshman Ruth Montgomery recorded eight shutouts on the season, including six straight with 45 saves.
"Saint Mary's had only given up three goals on the season, which I think is the best in the nation," Head Coach Jerry Smith said. "We knew it would be a challenge, it was a very big game for both of us."
After the offensive outburst this weekend in the Santa Clara Nike Classic, the 4-0 win over the Gaels seemed like a close contest. On Sunday, the Broncos dominated Alabama for the full 90 minutes in a 9-0 victory at Buck Shaw Stadium. In a display of skill, speed, and incredible goals, Santa Clara put on an exciting show for Bronco fans. Senior defender Kim Pickup opened the scoring for Santa Clara, heading in a cross from Clemens six minutes into the match for her first collegiate goal. Six minutes later, redshirt freshman Aly Wagner blasted a shot from the 18 yard line, bouncing the ball of the top post and across the line for a 2-0 Bronco lead.
After goals from Little, freshman Devvyn Hawkins and senior Kathleen Celio gave Santa Clara a comfortable 5-0 lead, senior defender Rachel Weber put on a clinic for the Alabama defense. With 34:23 to go in the second half, Weber took a defender right before crossing the ball perfectly to Hawkins for her second goal of the match. Less than a minute later, Weber cut right, causing the Alabama defender to fall on her face, and dribbled the ball to the end line where she shot the ball from a ridiculous angle only to see the ball go in the net for an impossible goal.
"I didn't know whether I was crossing or shooting the ball, it just went in," Weber said. "I was as surprised as anyone."
In the first game of the tournament, the Broncos scorched Evansville 9-0 on Friday night in the first home game for Santa Clara in over a month. With 30:19 to go in the first half, Little scored off of a great centering pass from All-American Clemens. Not to be outdone, four minutes later Clemens made a bid for play of the year when she faked left, leaving two defenders in the dust, while cutting right and blasting a shot past the helpless goalkeeper. The Broncos got two more goals from Little, giving her a second career hat trick, as well as scores from junior Megan Horvath, Wagner and senior Kylie Bivens.