Oct. 26, 2003
MORAGA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University women's soccer team played its fifth double overtime match of the season, and came away with another tie, this one a scoreless draw against Saint Mary's in West Coast Conference action this afternoon at Garaventa Field in Moraga. The Broncos' record moves to 10-3-5 overall, 4-0-1 in the WCC, while Saint Mary's is now 7-7-2, 3-1-1 in league play.
The match, played in highly windy conditions, did not see a shot in the first 26 minutes of action. Saint Mary's broke the streak with an attempt by Sarah Takekawa that was stopped by Bronco keeper Julie Ryder. Santa Clara responded with its first shot minutes later, by Lana Bowen, but the effort was deflected by a Gael player. Saint Mary's finished with a 3-1 shot advantage at intermission, including an attempt by Sarah Burgess that caromed off the cross bar with less than two minutes remaining in the period.
Saint Mary's kept the momentum at the onset of the second half, with two shots saved by Ryder. Lauren Zealear countered for the Broncos with a header in the 55th minute, but Gael netminder Alicia Artuso was able to make the save. Midway through the period, Tiffany Roberts and Kristi Candau combined for a pair of attempts that went just wide right of goal.
Santa Clara had two corner kicks in the final seven minutes of regulation, and a shot by Tina Estrada, but the match went into overtime.
Roberts took the only shot of the first overtime-for either team-but her attempt trickled just past the far post. In the second extra period, Saint Mary's Katie Frattone launched a strike that was stopped by Ryder in mid-air. Leslie Osborne took a shot for the Broncos under the five-minute mark while Zealear made an attempt in the waning seconds.
Ryder led the Bronco defense with six saves, while Artuso also finished with six for the Gaels.
Santa Clara will return home next weekend for the final home match of the regular season. The Broncos will honor seniors Candau, Tracy Hess, Chardonnay Poole and Veronica Zepeda in a pre-match ceremony, and then take on third-ranked Portland in what may turn out to be the deciding match of the WCC Championship.
