Nov. 13, 2002
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Santa Clara University women's soccer sophomore Leslie Osborne was named the West Coast Conference's Player of the Week for the third time this season, after scoring two goals and netting two assists in the Broncos' 6-0 victory over Gonzaga last week. She added an assist in SCU's other game, a 3-1 win over Pacific on Wednesday.
She shares this week's honor with Pepperdine's Ali Pavoni.
Osborne, of Menomonee Falls, Wis., assisted on both of Veronica Zepeda's goals and then scored twice herself. She scored her first point of the week with an assist on the Broncos' final goal against the Tigers.
She earned her first honor of the season for her performance at the Stanford Nike Invitational, leading the Broncos to a double-overtime tie against No. 16 Florida and a 4-0 victory over Oklahoma, in which she had a hand in all four scores.
The forward earned the same league honors the following week, scoring the golden goal in the fifth minute of overtime to lead the Broncos to a 2-1 victory over 14th-ranked Tennessee. She earned all-tournament team honors for her performance at the SCU adidas Classic, which also included scoring the first goal against the Lady Vols.
Santa Clara will face Creighton in the first round of the 2002 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships on Friday. The Broncos, the 2001 National Champions, are the tournament's sixth overall seed, and will host the first and second rounds of the 21st NCAA Championship at Buck Shaw Stadium this weekend.
The Broncos will face the Blue Jay at Buck Shaw Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday. Pacific-10 schools Arizona State and Washington State will face each other in the other game at 5 p.m. The winners will face each other on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Broncos, ranked fourth in the country with a 15-4-1 record, will be making its 14th straight NCAA postseason appearance. Santa Clara received an at-large berth in the 2002 Tournament after earning a share of the West Coast Conference Championship on November 9. The Broncos have advanced to the College Cup on eight occasions.