Oct. 3, 2006
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Rivalry Series continues on Wednesday evening as the No. 3 Santa Clara Broncos and San Jose State Spartans head to the pitch for their final tune-ups before starting conference play this weekend. For the Broncos, it is an opportunity to extend their 14-match home winning streak, currently the third-longest in program history.
Tickets are available for Wednesday night's match by calling (408) 554-4660 or by clicking here. Sunday, the Broncos will begin West Coast Conference play by hosting the San Diego Toreros at 1 p.m.
The Broncos (9-2-0) enter Wednesday night's contest sporting an unblemished 10-0-0 all-time mark against the Spartans (3-7-1), having outscored them 43-5 in those 10 victories. Fresh off of a 2-0 win over then-No. 18 Stanford on Saturday night, the third-ranked Broncos and their stellar defense will be looking to finish off their 12-match non-conference stretch with the team's fifth consecutive shutout.
"What we want to make sure we do is finish off our current phase well, when you're in the middle of a 20-match season, it is hard for each game to play a significant role," said head coach Jerry Smith of his team being right in the middle of its slate of matches. "We want to win the game to help Santa Clara in the Rivalry Series, but we also want to finish off Phase Three of our season off with a bang."
Meagan Snell continues to lead the Bronco attack this season, as she netted her eighth goal of the season in Saturday's win. Amanda Poach scored her first collegiate goal on a 25-yard laser beam, while Kiki Bosio continued to showcase her playmaking abilities by assisting on both scores.
"Kiki has been one of our most consistent attacking players," noted Smith. "She has been very consistent when it comes to what we want our attacking players to do, other than scoring goals, which is doing a lot of the intangibles in terms of assists, hustle plays, and holding the ball well for the team."
Defensively, the Broncos have shutout eight opponents in 2006, with sophomore goalkeeper Meagan McCray posting six to go along with a 0.49 goals-against average, 20th in the nation. The Novato native also made eight saves to preserve Saturday's shutout of Stanford, a few of them in one-on-one situations. The starting back line of outside backs Marian Dalmy and Hillary Schwarzbach and central defenders Dani Potts and Lauren Zealear also provide a solid first line of defense for the Broncos.
"Meagan has been great for us all year, she really has a level of confidence that we didn't see a year ago as a freshman, and has contributed to a number of our wins this year, but probably had her biggest contribution came with the saves she had on Saturday," said Smith.
The Spartans, meanwhile, head into the match having dropped three in a row, including a 1-0 setback this past Sunday against UC Irvine. Jessica Scott and Jennifer Guadagnolo lead the team with a pair of goals and eight points each, while goalkeeper Kelsea Scott has made 22 saves on the season.