Women's soccer falls in stalemate vs. No. 2 Portland, 1-0

By Jackson Morgus

The Santa Clara women's soccer team had an opportunity to take control of the West Coast Conference this past Sunday when they faced off with the No. 2 Portland Pilots. Unfortunately for Head Coach Jerry Smith's squad, a third minute goal for the Pilots was the lone tally registered at Buck Shaw Stadium, with Portland squeezing by the Broncos 1-0.

The game took place among the Senior Day celebrations for the team, which welcomed back soccer alumni for the game such as Brandi Chastain.

While they may not have been satisfied with the result of their last home game of the season, Santa Clara took away several positives form the match.

"Portland was clearly one of the top teams in the country, and they didn't outplay us today," said Smith. "I think there were stretches where we looked like the better team, and I think that's a good step for our program this season."

The only goal of the game was recorded shortly after kickoff. Portland's Sophie Schmidt labeled a shot for the top corner of the net, but Santa Clara goaltender Lisa Lahman, starting for Senior Day in place of Bianca Henninger, was able to tip it just high. The ball caromed off of the crossbar right to Portland's Michelle Enyeart. Enyeart put it away, putting the Broncos in a 1-0 hole they would be unable to climb out of.

Lahman was replaced by Henninger in the 7th minute, but Smith made it clear that that had been his plan, and that it wasn't because of Lahman's play.

"We feel like Bianca probably has the slight edge right now in our goalkeeping, but we also stay true to our commitment to start all our seniors on Senior Day. I thought that was a heck of a shot, up in the upper corner. To even keep it out of the net was a heck of a save by Lisa," said Smith, referring to the initial shot that Lahman directed off of the crossbar.

The goaltending switch, while not enough to get the victory, did prove to work out for Santa Clara, as Henninger stopped a free kick just outside of the 18-yard box not long after entering the game; she managed to keep Portland off the board for the 83 minutes of action she saw.

The Broncos saw their share of chances, but were unable to even the score in the second half. Jordan Angeli, playing in the final home game of her six-year Santa Clara career, registered five shots and was turned away on two chances on target.

Anessa Patton came off the bench to register four shots, two of which needed to be stopped by the Portland keeper, and senior captain Kiki Bosio put three shots at the Portland net.

"I think in terms of dangerous chances, they were pretty even. I think in the end it's a dead even game," said Smith, whose team outshot Portland 8-2 in their second half comeback attempt.

Santa Clara doubled Portland's shot total for the match, 24 to 12. On the season, Santa Clara has consistently controlled possession of the ball and generated scoring opportunities. They have put nearly twice as many shots on target (114) as opponents (59).

The final test of the season for Santa Clara before the NCAA tournament will come on Saturday. They will head up to Spokane to take on Gonzaga for their final game of the regular season.

Smith knows what he wants to do to overcome the Bulldogs, who sit in sixth place in the WCC.

"What I'd like to see the team do is mix up the attacking from short and long passes a little bit better than what we did."

Nick Pinkerton contributed to this article. Contact Jackson Morgus at jmorgus@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.