Dec. 20, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - In a season which saw the Santa Clara women's soccer team go 17-5-2 and continue its streak of being the only program in the nation to reach the NCAA Quarterfinals for the past 11 seasons, four Broncos were selected to the All-West Region teams, it was announced today.
Junior forward Tina Estrada was selected to the All-West Region second team while sophomore forward Jordan Angeli, junior defender Marian Dalmy and junior goalkeeper Julie Ryder all earned third-team honors.
Estrada, whose 11 goals and 27 points were second on the team, was a pivotal factor in the Broncos' postseason run. In the final 11 matches of the season, she scored nine goals and notched two assists, including three goals and two assists in the four NCAA Tournament contests.
"What you do at the end of the season is always more important than what you do at the beginning of the season," said head coach Jerry Smith of Estrada's performance in the second half of the season. "Her performance helped us have a terrific run at the end of the tournament. Coaches tend to remember things at the end of the season more and place higher value on a player's performance then, when the pressure is turned up. Her performance was accurately rewarded."
Ryder and Dalmy were part of a stringent defensive unit that tallied 13 shutouts on the season and allowed only 47 goals on the season. Ryder's goals-against average of 0.62 and ten shutouts were among the best single-season marks in SCU history, and her 31 career shutouts are third all-time, only three behind leader Sue Wall.
Dalmy, an outside back who alternated between attacking on the wing and falling back defensively when necessary, earned her honor through her tough play on both ends of the field. In a scheme which calls for the outside backs to play a significant role on the attack, Dalmy not only contributed to the back line's 13 shutouts but also scored a pair of goals and recorded two assists going forward.
"It's really hard to get recognized when you're primary role is stopping opponents," Smith noted about Ryder and Dalmy's selections. "In Julie's case, she has a strong goals-against average and posted good shutout numbers, and Marian was probably recognized for what she did attacking as much as defending. Outside backs on our team have to become good attacking players also."
The team's leading scorer with 12 goals and 29 points in 2005, Angeli quickly established herself as one of Santa Clara's most dangerous offensive threats, scoring four goals in Santa Clara's first four games. Two of those goals came on Sept. 9 against then-No. 1 Notre Dame, leading the Broncos to a 2-1 victory over the defending national champions.
Part of what made Angeli's offensive outburst so special was the fact that in the preseason, Smith had moved her from her usual defender position up to forward to add a new dimension to the Bronco attack. What Smith called "an experiment" at the dawning of the 2005 season turned out to be a smashing success as Angeli's work ethic and determination made her a force to be reckoned with.
"It's a real credit to Jordan. It's hard to make an all-regional team and to do it in a year when she's been asked to play a new position speaks to her commitment to learning a new position," Smith said. "She is one of the students on our team who takes everything we do seriously. When we're giving coaching points out on the field, she'll always make sure that she understands them. Jordan is just about as great a student of the game as she is a player of the game. Her recognition on the All-West Region team is a testament to that."