Women's preseason poll reveals tight race for title

By Aaron Juarez

Unlike the crowded competition on the men's side of play, the women's West Coast Conference soccer season seems to be shaping up as a two-horse race.

Santa Clara and Portland finished tied atop the WCC preseason poll with 46 points each. The next closest team, the defending WCC co-champions Pepperdine Waves, are 11 points back.

The coaches can hardly be blamed for expecting Santa Clara and Portland to dominate WCC play. When a conference is home to the past two national champions, it would make sense that the two squads repeat their stellar performances.

Portland, coming off of their 2-1 comeback victory over Santa Clara in the 2002 College Cup, have picked up right where they left off, storming to a 10-2 record in non-conference play. In the wake of the tragic passing of Head Coach Clive Charles on Aug. 26, three days before the start of the 2003 season, the Pilots are playing inspired soccer right now, riding a six-game winning streak into their final non-conference game on Wednesday against Portland State.

What shows Portland's strength and depth the most is how dominating they have been without 2002 Honda Collegiate and WCC Player of the Year junior forward Christine Sinclair. The Canadian national team member is yet to see action for Portland this season due to representing Canada in the Women's World Cup.

In 2002, Sinclair posted 10 multiple-goal games, despite having to miss time due to national team commitments.

Sinclair also established new records for goals in an NCAA tournament (10) and points (21).

"Whether Sinclair is playing or not, Portland is enjoying what we enjoyed last year," said Santa Clara Head Coach Jerry Smith. "And that is the confidence to know that we can beat anybody and win the national championship. That has tremendous value especially as it gets into the tough games during the year, and in the NCAA Tournament."

The Pilots also return senior captain and defender Imani Dorsey to anchor the defense, along with fellow defenders and juniors Kristen Rogers and Kristen Moore.

Paced by the scoring of sophomore midfielder Lindsey Huie and senior forward Wanda Rozwadowska, who lead the Pilots with four goals apiece, Portland boasts a potent scoring machine that will only improve if Sinclair returns to play following her World Cup commitment.

After winning the College Cup in 2001 and falling in the 2002 final to Portland, the Santa Clara Broncos will look to make their 10th College Cup appearance.

With returning playmakers in senior forward Veronica Zepeda, junior midfielder Leslie Osborne and senior defender Chardonnay Poole, the Broncos have put together a three-game winning streak after an up-and-down start in 2003.

After a 3-1-3 start, Santa Clara dropped two straight decisions to national powerhouse Notre Dame and USC, dropping the Broncos to .500.

After the 3-0 loss to the Women of Troy, there was some concern about the Broncos' direction.

"Preparation was lacking earlier in the season," said Zepeda. "We've had a lot of team meetings about our focus and preparation before games. Learning to play with an underdog mentality in every match has helped us a lot, as this team is committed to being focused and prepared for each match."

Immediately after the loss to USC, the Broncos posted shutout victories over Cal Poly, Stanford and TCU to improve to 6-3-3 heading into their final non-conference match Thursday against Cal State Fullerton.

"I think this year we have played Final Four-caliber teams, certainly NCAA Tournament-caliber teams," commented Smith. "They've exposed our weaknesses and told us whether experiments work or don't work in terms of player personnel or tactics. We've learned from all of that and prepare to launch into a second half of our season that will allow us to really know that what we are doing will work when it comes to NCAA playoffs and into conference play."

Beginning conference play with a match in San Diego on Sunday, Oct. 12, the Broncos begin the road back to the postseason, hoping to achieve the championship which just eluded them last year.

"I think that for the returning players there is a sense of unresolved business," commented Osborne. "Just watching the recap and thinking about how we lost last year gives us more motivation to turn around what happened last season."

Hovering underneath the radar in the conference are the Pepperdine Waves. Finishing the 2002 season as co-champions of the WCC (with Santa Clara), an 18-2-2 record and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Waves in fact defeated both Portland and Santa Clara last season in conference play.

It also stands to be mentioned that Pepperdine was the highest-seeded WCC team in last year's NCAA Tournament. Led by seven returning starters, including forwards junior Ali Pavoni and sophomores Jenna Fodor and Megan Woods, the Waves possess a 9-2 record and are currently ranked sixth in the nation, just behind Portland. The defense, led by senior defender Ashley Swanson, is one of the strongest in the nation, having allowed only four goals on the season.

With three national powerhouses in the WCC, the race for the 2003 title may be more competitive than expected. The championship race may just turn out to be a three-horse race instead.