Women's soccer prepares for UCLA

By Josh Grifin

The No. 4 Santa Clara women's soccer team opened their West Coast Conference schedule this past weekend by continuing this season's success with dominating victories over San Francisco and Gonzaga.

On Friday evening at Buck Shaw Stadium, the Broncos beat the Dons of University of San Francisco with a final score of 5-0. That triumph carried over into the Sunday afternoon game in Spokane, Wash., where the Broncos shut out the 'Zags 10-0.

In their WCC opener at Buck Shaw Stadium, Santa Clara met a feisty USF squad who, despite being out-shot 35-6 in the game, managed to hold the Broncos offense to one goal from sophomore Veronica Zepeda in the first half.

The offensive attack of Santa Clara began to convert successfully seven minutes into the second half, when sophomore Kristy Candau scored her second goal on the year to put the Broncos ahead 2-0. Freshman Leslie Osborne scored the third goal of the game, and freshman Bree Horvath and sophomore Chardonnay Poole closed out the game by both contributing their first goals of the season.

The Sunday afternoon match between the Bulldogs of Gonzaga and Santa Clara ended with a 10-0 Bronco victory. Santa Clara dominated from the outset, with freshman Taline Tahmassian and junior Aly Wagner both scoring quick goals. The game ended with the freshmen class scoring six goals and contributing three assists.

"Ever since last fall when we received commitments from our incoming freshmen, we have felt that it would be one of the strongest freshmen classes that women's soccer has ever seen," Head Coach Jerry Smith said. "Not only are they physically talented, but they have strong mental and physical toughness that will pay off in the upcoming matches as well as in the NCAA Tournament."

The Broncos continue their season at Buck Shaw Stadium versus the No. 2 UCLA Bruins at 6:30 p.m. tonight. The Bruins are currently undefeated at 11-0.

"The UCLA match will be an interesting test, and I am not worried that we will not play well. Whether we win or lose Thursday, I am most concerned with our ability to bounce back and play well against St. Mary's on Sunday," Smith said. "St. Mary's is very competitive, having defeated both Portland and Cal-Berkeley already this year, and that game will be integral in determining the conference champion this year."

Santa Clara will continue its conference season at noon on Sunday at St. Mary's College in Moraga.