Aug. 14, 2006
Santa Clara women's soccer standouts Jordan Angeli and Amanda Poach will be sharing their experiences with the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team while they participate in the FIFA Under-20 World Championships from August 17-September 4. The U.S. will begin Group D play on the 17th against the Democratic Republic of Congo, before facing Argentina on August 21 and closing group play with an August 24 match against France.
Both student-athletes are coming off of a superb 2005 season with the Broncos, as Angeli was named second-team All-WCC after leading Santa Clara with 12 goals and 29 points. She was also named Soccer America's National Player of the Week after scoring both SCU goals in a 2-1 victory over then-No. 1 Notre Dame on September 9, then assisting on the game-winner two days later in a 1-0 triumph over CS Fullerton.
Poach recorded a pair of assists and took on the demanding job of holding midfielder as a freshman in 2005. Her leadership and poise in the middle helped the Broncos dominate possession throughout the season, and her efforts were rewarded as she was named to Soccer Buzz' Freshman All-America Third Team.
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Posted: Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Cheer Against Us, Will They?
Hola Broncos!
Congrats on the good start! It sounds like our team is pretty deep and a lot of people contributed to the two wins this weekend! We were so thankful to have Internet because we were both constantly updating each other on what was going on with the games. We are super excited to come back because we know it is going to be a good year. Are you guys ready to head out to good ol' South Bend, Indiana? After talking to Anna [Cmaylo], it sounds like all the volleyball girls will get to come and watch your game Friday night. That will be nice to have some fans out there. We wish you guys the best of luck and we will be following both games on the Internet!
Just a little update now from Russia:
We are now back in Moscow after a 4 day trip to St. Petersburg. It was a much prettier city with some amazing sites like the Hermitage Museum that holds original Monet's, Picasso's, and we even found a da Vinci. We only played one game there, our quarter-final match against Germany. The first part of the game was a hard fought battle, but after two amazing balls from my sidekick Poachie (and two good finishes), we were winning 2-0 at half. They came out hard in the second half and scored a goal about 15 minutes into the second half, but we retaliated and were able to get two more goals to seal the deal! The whole stadium was cheering against us, except our little cluster of parents, which made the victory much sweeter. Plus, Poachie got player of the game for her stellar play in the midfield. She played an awesome game and definitely deserved it. We have two more days till our semi-final match against China on Thursday. I know we told you guys that the games might be on TV but it turns out they aren't...figures. But, we will update you again after our game!
Love your #1 fans,
Jordan and Amanda
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Posted: Friday, August 25, 2006
On to the Quarterfinals
Hey everybody! A lot has happened since we last wrote but it has been a bit crazy here in Russia. We played our second game against Argentia on the 21st and we beat them 4-1. Once again we got the win but we were all frustrated because we haven't really played as well as we know we can. The day after our game we had off so we spent some time doing a couple different things in Moscow. We visited a nearby orphanage where we got to play some small sided soccer with the boys (the girls were not allowed to play with us) and gave them some presents we brought with us from home.
Later that night we all dressed up and went to the ballet. We saw The Nutcracker. The theatre was really beautiful but the ballet itself was a bit like a high school performance.
Our last game of pool play was yesterday against France at Dynamo stadium. We were both tied for first in the group so whoever won would win the group. It was a good game because the French have been the best team we have played yet. It seemed to me that we dominated the play and had a lot of chances but kept barely missing. Jess Rostedt came in at the beginning of the second half and added a little flare to our play. We created many chances in the second half and Jess put one away with about 25 minutes left in the game. Our 1-0 victory sealed our 1st place finish in our group and has us matched up against Germany on Sunday in the Quarterfinals.
The quarters are in St. Petersburg so last night at 2 am we all boarded a sleeping train (which reminded us all of the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter but way more sketch) and made the 11 hour train ride to St. Pete's. We arrived at about 2 p.m. and from what we have seen of the city, it seems like a beautiful place with amazing architecture. We are going to go exploring tomorrow after our practice and see what the city has to offer! Also my parents are coming tomorrow so I am really excited about that!!!
Enough with us...How excited are you guys that it is time for the first game of the season?!?! We are so excited for you guys because we know how hard you have been working for the past two weeks (and during summer) for season to start. Good luck and we will be cheering for you all the way from Russia!
Love u lots and Go Broncos!
Jordan and Poach
p.s. Eat some delicious food for us at the post-game bbq!
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Posted: Saturday, August 19, 2006
Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting!
Hello again! Its Saturday night and we are just returning from a boat ride down the river through Moscow. There were many amazing buildings and golden churches that we passed along the way. However, we spent most of our time playing an intense game of Catchphrase and doing some serious people watching! Let us tell you the people of Russia are mighty interesting and we are determined they get dressed in the dark!
 Amanda Poach played the full 90 minutes in Thursday's 2-1 win over DR Congo  |
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Since we last wrote there hasn't been much going on around here up until our first game yesterday where we faced off against Congo. We didn't play to the best of our abilities by any means, however, we came out with a big "W" so that was good. I think nerves were a factor and we never really settled into a good rhythm. Poachie played the whole game at center-mid and I played the first half playing both outside-mid and outside back on the left. It was definitely a battle! The Congo girls were kung-fu chopping our legs out from under us and doing karate chops and bicycle kicks to clear the ball from their defensive third. Since we weren't satisfied with our performance, particularly our finishing, we had a training session this morning where we worked on a few odds and ends that needed to be cleaned up.
Enough about us, how is everything back at the good 'ol SC? We hope the team had a good time camping! We did see pics and they almost made me cry because I miss them so much! We are so bummed that we missed the trip but it looked like it was awesome and everyone made it out alive! Good luck during the rest of preseason and "grind it out!" We will update you all again after our next game on Monday against Argentina!
Go Broncos!
Jordi and Poachie
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Posted: Monday, August 14, 2006
Arriving In Moscow
HEY HEY HEY! So let me just give you all a little rundown of what has been happening the past couple of days:
Poachie and I got to JFK at about 7 a.m. Saturday morning and went to a hotel. We slept until one, when we had to be back to the airport to check in for our flight to Russia. The airports actually weren't that crazy, which was nice because I was really nervous about that. The flight to Russia was fine, about nine hours, for most of which I slept, thank goodness, and we got to the hotel around 3 p.m. (Russia time, which is 11 hours ahead of SCU). We went for a walk later just down the streets of Moscow and then I just zonked out because I was so tired.
Today we had practice in the morning and played small-sided and did some drills on our own (passing, shooting, and crossing). We just got back from Red Square a little bit ago where we checked out St. Basil's Cathedral, which was absolutely stunning! It is the church you think of when you think of Moscow, with the swirling colors and the ice cream cone-shaped design. We also saw the Kremlin, which was in red square as well. I was so excited because I purchased one of those fur hats! A couple of us got them and they are absolutely hilarious! Tomorrow, [Women's Under-20 National Team coach] Tim [Schulz] is trying to set up a friendly against Nigeria, but he isn't sure if it will work out, but either way we are going to practice tomorrow night.
A couple other things to mention: First, yesterday at dinner our security guard gave us a rundown of the things we should be aware of while we're here. That there are pick-pockets to be conscious of, there is a large amount of organized crime (duh the Russian Mafia), and an active amount of terrorists. Wha-wa-wa-what?! I'm not going to lie, he kind of scared me with that. How crazy!
Secondly, the food is surprisingly good. Every meal was not bad at all. I was shocked!
Love,
Jordi