July 28, 2005
NEW YORK - The Santa Clara University women's soccer team has recruited the fourth best class in the nation, according to Soccer Buzz magazine, in its annual rankings recently released.
USC was tabbed by the magazine with the top class in the country, followed by its Pac-10 rival UCLA as well as Virginia. Tennessee was ranked fifth and followed by West Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Texas to round out the top 10. Details on the top 10 can be seen at SoccerBuzz.com. The complete top 25 list can also be viewed at SoccerBuzz.com.
Santa Clara signed five high school All-Americans to National Letters of Intent in February: Courtney Lewis of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., Meagan McCray of Novato, Calif., Amanda Poach of Bowie, Md., Danielle Potts of Danville, Calif., and Hayley Siegel of Ellicott City, Md. Please Click Here for the complete release announcing the Bronco Class of 2009.
"Once again, we have signed another outstanding class," Smith said at the time of the signing. "We are very excited. This should go down as one of the top signing classes in our history among a number of great classes. All five members have been part of the Youth National Team program and we will look for them all to contribute immediately to our fall campaign."
Santa Clara traditionally recruits nationally-recognized classes, including last year's incoming freshmen, who were tabbed 15th by Soccer Buzz magazine. SCU's current junior class was ranked tops by Soccer America and Soccer Buzz, after Smith signed four players with National Team experience who are now All-West Coast Conference honorees: goalkeeper Julie Ryder, forward Tina Estrada, and defenders Lauren Zealear and Marian Dalmy. Also included in that class were Tiffany Roberts and Elyse Shelger, who boasted regional ODP backgrounds. Soccer Buzz also listed Santa Clara's 1998 signing class as best in the country. The group featured a trio of student-athletes who led the Broncos to the program's first College Cup title: Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Anna Kraus.
This past fall, Santa Clara advanced to its 10th College Cup during the NCAA Championship, falling to eventual champion Notre Dame. The Broncos played arguably one of the toughest schedules in the country, and won their fourth straight West Coast Conference Championship. The Broncos were led by senior All-Americans Leslie Osborne and Megan Kakadelas.
Santa Clara will aim for its 11th overall appearance in the College Cup with the start of the 2005 season. The 20-match slate features fellow 2004 College Cup participants UCLA and Notre Dame at home and Bay Area rivals Stanford and Cal, two programs the Broncos had to defeat in last year's postseason run. The 2005 schedule will kick off against Arizona State on Friday, August 26 at 7 p.m. and then move on to tournaments at Wake Forest and Stanford. Santa Clara will host the 10th annual Santa Clara/adidas Classic on Sept. 9 and 11, which annually features some of the nation's finest teams. This year, the Broncos will host the Fighting Irish, Cal State Fullerton and Gonzaga. The Titans and the Bulldogs will be making their first appearances at the event, while Notre Dame is the Classic's 2003 champion.