No. 3 Santa Clara Battles to 1-1 Tie With No. 21 LMU

No. 3 Santa Clara Battles to 1-1 Tie With No. 21 LMU

Oct. 13, 2006

Final Stats

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The No. 3 Santa Clara women's soccer team found itself in a pitched battle Friday afternoon against the scrappy No. 21 Loyola Marymount Lions, but neither team could deliver the telling blow and had to settle for splitting the points with a 1-1 tie. The result snaps SCU's six-match shutout streak but still leaves the Broncos unbeaten and in contention for the WCC crown.

The Broncos (11-2-1, 1-0-1 WCC) will now head a few miles out to the Pacific coast to take on the Pepperdine Waves, 2-1 overtime winners over San Diego Friday afternoon. Today's result marks the first tie in the all-time series with the Lions (7-1-4, 0-0-2 WCC).

Carrying a five-match winning streak against the Lions into Friday's bout, the Broncos looked to be directing things towards a similar result as Meagan Snell took a pass from Chioma Igwe and deposited it into the back of the net for the quick 1-0 lead only 5:26 into the match.

But the Lions did not fold, answering back just over a minute later as Jamie Bell netted the equalizer by heading in an Alicia Lloyd cross. Tiffany Harrison also earned an assist on the play.

For the rest of the half, momentum stayed with the Lions as they outshot the Broncos 12-5 and forced SCU keeper Meagan McCray to make five saves in the first 45 minutes. For the match, McCray made 10 saves.

In the second half, the Broncos kept the Lions out of the net despite the disparity in shots, relying on the gritty SCU defense and the goalkeeping of McCray to hold the fort until the attack could get going. Amanda Poach put a shot on frame in the 65th minute that LMu keeper Joslyn Slovek just got her fingertips on and knocked over the net.

A Jordan Angeli attempt in the 79th minute went high, and Kiki Bosio saw a shot saved by Lions keeper Joslyn Slovek, who made five saves on the day.

The teams alternated controlling the extra sessions, as the Lions accounted for all four shots taken in the first overtime, and the Broncos bounced back to hold LMU without a shot while taking two of their own in the second session.