Aug. 21, 2003
MISSION, Kan. - The Santa Clara University women's soccer team will open the 2003 season ranked No. 1 in the country, according to a preseason poll by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Broncos open the season against fifth-ranked UCLA and will face eight other opponents also ranked in the top 20, including a meeting against second-ranked Portland in a rematch of the 2002 championship game on Nov. 2.
In the poll, North Carolina and Portland are tied for second, followed by Pac-10 powers Stanford and UCLA, both of which are Bronco opponents this season. The bottom half of the top 10 are Texas A&M, Penn State, Connecticut, Texas and Notre Dame. The Broncos will take on No. 7 Penn State at the Virginia Classic on Sept. 14 and will host 10th-ranked Notre Dame on Sept. 21 at the SCU adidas Classic.
Santa Clara will also face No 13 Pepperdine, No. 16 California and No. 19 USC, all of which will also be played at Buck Shaw Stadium. Additionally, SCU will visit No. 11 Virginia.
The complete 2003 NSCAA/adidas Preseason Rankings can be found at www.nscaa.com. The regular season rankings for college soccer begin the week of Sept. 1. and will be released each Monday throughout the remainder of the season.
The NSCAA/adidas Rankings are conducted by a committee of member coaches throughout the country and are an indicator of the week-to-week status of qualified programs, and in no way should be used as a guide or indicator of eligibility for NCAA, NAIA, NCCAA or NJCAA championship selection.
The season opener next Friday will kick off at 7 p.m. at Buck Shaw. Last season, the Bruins were ranked third when the Broncos upset them in overtime in Los Angeles. Santa Clara is 4-0 against UCLA in the all-time series between the schools.