Women's soccer defeats No. 1 Fighting Irish 2-1

By Jeremy Herb

Santa Clara women's soccer team is infamous for its slow starts and this season was no exception. The Broncos looked sluggish in their opening game against Arizona State -- in the first half.

After halftime, however, Santa Clara took control, scoring two goals and earning their first win in an opening contest since 2001. Since then, the Broncos have kept up their momentum, jumping out to a 5-1-1 record and climbing to third in the national rankings.

"Santa Clara soccer has always kind of had a slow start and this is the first year since I've been here that we've had a really good start," junior forward Tina Estrada said.

Not only has the team quickly established itself, but the Broncos also defeated defending national champion Notre Dame, the same team which knocked Santa Clara out of the playoffs last season in the semifinals.

Head Coach Jerry Smith explained, "Not only is Notre Dame national champs and the number one team, but they are better than they were a year ago. For us to beat them shows us what our potential is if we can click on all cylinders."

In the 2-1 victory, both Bronco goals came from the foot of sophomore forward Jordan Angeli. In her freshman season, she was a defender, but Smith decided to move her to forward this year and Angeli has responded with four goals.

For her two-goal effort against Notre Dame, Angeli was recognized as the Soccer America National Player of the Week as well as the Most Valuable Player of the Adidas Classic Tournament. The accolades, however, don't surprise her teammates.

"She's doing awesome. She definitely adds a spark up there," said Estrada.

Smith's decision to move Angeli stemmed from the graduation of Megan Kakadelas and Leslie Osborne, two of the team's leading scorers from last season. With the front line depleted, Smith identified Angeli as a player who could step up for the offense, despite her limited collegiate experience at forward.

"I am not surprised that she is successful wherever we put her on the field," Smith said. "She is such a hard worker and such a serious student of the game that anything is possible."

While the Notre Dame victory gave the Broncos reason to celebrate, they haven't had a chance to catch their breath. In their opening seven games, Santa Clara has played four nationally-ranked teams, including three ranked in the Top 10. The Broncos lone loss this year came at the hands of UCLA, the other team that made the national championship game last season. However, the team's grueling schedule doesn't concern its coach.

"As we put the schedule together every year, we try to put together the most demanding schedule we can," Smith said. "My theory is, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Our schedule is going to harden our team."

"As we get into the NCAA Tournament, we're gonna be in a lot of tight games against Top 10 teams, and knowing you can go into those games with the confidence that we've already done this can potentially pay off for us pretty well down the line."

Despite the difficult opponents early on, the biggest reason for the Broncos success has been their ability to shut high-powered teams down. They have kept their opponents off the scoreboard, allowing only five goals in their seven games thus far.

Junior defender Lauren Zealer attributes the Broncos defensive successes to the team's ability to work together.

"We have really good chemistry on and off the field. Everyone works very hard and trusts one another," she said.

Santa Clara's biggest concern this season has been their inability to score goals consistently. They have yet to win a game by more than two goals and have been trying different combinations on the front line in order to create the most potent offensive attack.

"I think that like football, [in soccer] the offense takes longer to come around than the defense," Smith said. "The key to that is sustained possession and sustained attack. Right now, we're making three or four passes and giving it away and they're counterattacking us. We have to do a better job of keeping the other team on the defensive a little bit longer."

Smith is hoping that once his offense reaches its potential, they will be even stronger than last season's team, which reached the Final Four.

"I think we have more scoring capability than last year," Smith said. "One of the things that limited us in our scoring last year was that we typically like to play with four backs. We had to bite the bullet halfway through the season and play with five backs, and that allowed us one less player getting involved in the attack."

"Now, with Cat (Sigler) and Lauren (Zealer), we're kind of getting it done with four backs again, and that allows us to put another player in the attack," Smith said.

In their game Sunday against Cal, the Broncos' two goals came from Estrada and senior defender Micaela Esquivel. Estrada was second in goals last season, but Esquivel, whom Smith moved to forward in the Cal game, showcases the kind of experimentation that Smith will keep trying until Santa Clara finds a winning combination.

Summarizing the team's outlook, Estrada explained, "Our main goal is to win our conference. We need to focus on what we're doing right now and get through our goals for right now so when it comes conference, we are where we need to be."

The Broncos' next game is at 8 p.m. Friday against Saint Louis at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Contact Jeremy Herb at (408) 551-1918 or jmherb@scu.edu.