Jan. 23, 2003
BERKELEY, Calif. - Freshman defender/midfielder Micaela Esquivel was named one of Soccer America's Freshman All-Americans, the magazine announced Wednesday.
The Albuquerque, N.M., native started 25 games for the Broncos, splitting time between the defense and the midfield. Despite never playing fullback prior to her arrival on the Mission Campus, Esquivel shined, scoring six goals and clinching Santa Clara's second straight National Championship game appearance with a spectacular goal-line stop in the College Cup semifinal.
Esquivel earned her first collegiate goal against national power Notre Dame, gathering a loose ball off a corner kick at the top of the arc and chipping a shot in. She also scored the game-winner in the West Coast Conference opener against San Diego, and registered an ESPN highlight-worthy goal against Saint Mary's with a bicycle kick.
Lindsay Tarpley, who captained the United States to the FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship and helped lead the University of North Carolina to the NCAA College Cup, earned Freshman of the Year honors.
Arizona State's Manya Makoski and UCLA's Jill Oakes join Tarpley on the Soccer America freshman team. They are among four players from the Pacific-10 Conference on the squad, joined by Arizona State striker Elizabeth Bogus and Stanford defender Hayley Hunt.
The ACC and West Coast Conferences each have two representatives. Tarpley is joined by Maryland defender Mallory Mahar. The WCC contributed midfielder Lindsey Huie from NCAA champion Portland and defender Micaela Esquivel from NCAA runner-up Santa Clara. Others selected were Connecticut forward Brittany Barakat, Charlotte striker Courtney Crandell, and Texas A&M goalkeeper Kati Jo Spisak.
The Broncos finished the 2002 season with a 20-5-1 record, advancing to the College Cup for the ninth time. Santa Clara fell to conference rival Portland 2-1 in double overtime in the Championship game. Senior All-Americans Devvyn Hawkins and Aly Wagner led the Broncos from the midfield and are expected to be first-round draft picks in February's WUSA draft.