Women's soccer: moving forward
By Jackson Morgus
Despite a weekend setback against the University of Southern California, the Santa Clara women's soccer team is confident heading into perhaps the most crucial portion of their 2009 schedule.
Up next for the Broncos is a critical rivalry game with the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal (10-0-0), tonight under the lights of Buck Shaw Stadium at 7 p.m. The team will then host No. 14 Cal on Sunday, Oct. 4 at noon.
"Stanford is going to be another level, so we are definitely going to have to bring up our game to compete," said junior midfielder Kendra Perry.
In each of their two home matches last weekend, the Broncos controlled play for 90 minutes, but they were only able to get one win for their efforts. Santa Clara knocked off Cal State Fullerton 1-0 on Friday but were handed a 2-0 loss by Southern California's Women of Troy on Sunday.
Against Fullerton, the Broncos held the ball for the vast majority of the match. The Titans effectively defended the net, giving up a lone 18th minute goal by junior Anessa Patton.
Fortunately, that was all Santa Clara needed, as the Bronco defense, anchored by sophomore goaltender Bianca Henninger, was able to record their fifth shutout of the season.
Head coach Jerry Smith gave credit across the board for the strong defensive effort.
"Our best defense is our ability to hold the ball," he said. "Our opponent is not getting the ball into our defensive zone that often, and when they get there, our back line and our goalkeeper have been very good."
Smith wasn't satisfied with just holding the ball, describing their play around the opponent's goal as "a lack of aggressiveness and a lack of sophistication."
Unfortunately for the Broncos, Smith's fears that materialized during the Fullerton game came to fruition against USC. Santa Clara dominated possession of the ball once again and outshot USC 20-8, but failed to find the twine thanks in large part to USC goaltender Kristin Olsen.
Despite the unfortunate result, Smith was able to take some positives that will be key to upcoming matches.
"Anytime you see a stat sheet that says one team had 20 shots and the other had 8, that generally means you have played fairly well," he said.
"We can for sure try to keep the momentum we had on offense going when we play Stanford," junior midfielder Kendra Perry added. "Losing to USC is just going to keep us motivated going into the rest of our schedule."
The Broncos will need both the momentum and the motivation garnered from the loss if they want to knock off rival Stanford.
For Coach Smith's squad, continuing their dominant ball control will be a must, as the explosive Stanford front line averages a relentless 3.3 goals per game this season.
"Stanford is going to come right at you, which is going to give us more room to score goals," he said. "We know that they are going to get chances and our goalkeeper will have to make more plays."
Contact Jackson Morgus at jmorgus@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.