Sept. 20, 2007
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 1 Broncos women's soccer team takes its first road trip of the season this week as the team travels to Arizona. Santa Clara will face off against Arizona State on Friday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m., and will then battle Arizona on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 1 p.m.
Last Week For Bronco Women's Soccer
Last weekend, the Broncos rallied back to win both contests at the 2007 Stanford Tournament. Santa Clara fought to a 2-1 overtime victory against then-No. 12 Rutgers on Friday night, and then earned another 2-1 triumph over then-No. 20 Missouri on Sunday.
Scoring the equalizing goals for the Broncos was redshirt sophomore Courtney Lewis. Against the Scarlet Knights, sophomore Katherine Reynolds scored the game-winning goal early in the second overtime. Sunday afternoon redshirt senior Tina Estrada caught the rebound and sent the ball to the back of the net to give the Broncos the 2-1 win over the Tigers.
Santa Clara now owns a 4-0-1 overall record and is ranked in the Top 5 in all weekly polls.
Bronco Blogging
All year long, Bronco fans can receive an inside look at the women's soccer team by checking in with Jordan Angeli's blog on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
Angeli will be checking each week to let fans know what is going on with the team and its players both on and off the field.
To read Angeli's blog along with other Bronco sports blogs, click on the link on the right side of the SantaClaraBroncos.com homepage.
Lewis Receives First-Ever Weekly Honors
The weekly honors rolled in for redshirt sophomore Lewis this week. The Bronco midfielder earned her first-ever WCC Player of the Week accolade as well as her first Soccer America and SoccerBuzz National Team of the Week honors. Lewis aided the No. 1 Broncos' attack over the weekend by scoring the equalizing goals in both games. With just two minutes left in regulation, she netted the game-tying goal versus then-No. 12 Rutgers on Friday at the 2007 Stanford Tournament. Santa Clara eventually won 2-1 in overtime. On Sunday, against then-No. 20 Missouri, the redshirt sophomore struck again as she received a cross from Kiki Bosio to knot the score, 1-1, just before halftime.
Lewis led the Broncos last weekend with two goals and four points, and is tied for second overall with six total points. She has compiled three goals so far this season.
SCU Holds On To Top Spot In Soccer America Weekly Poll; Moves Up To No. 2 In Three Additional Rankings
After a 2-0 weekend and compiling a 4-0-1 overall record, the Santa Clara Broncos held on to the No. 1 spot in Soccer America's weekly top 25 poll. On top of that, the Broncos climbed one spot in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll from No. 3 to No. 2 and sit right behind first-place Stanford.
SCU held steady at No. 2 in Soccer Times weekly poll, while moving up two spots to No. 2 in Soccer Buzz's poll. Santa Clara's biggest jump of the week was from No. 9 to No. 4 in TopDrawerSoccer.com's top 30.
Broncos On The National Stage
Santa Clara continues its presence on the national stage this season as the Broncos scoring offense is ranked 18th in the nation. In won-lost-tied percentage, SCU checks in at No. 11 (.900) and in goals-against average the Broncos are 90th in the nation (.918). Goalkeeper Meagan McCray nabs the No. 95 spot in save percentage and No. 99 in goals-against average, while Lexi Orand is 81st in the nation in assists per game.
Santa Clara in WCC
With a couple of weeks left before West Coast Conference action begins, the Broncos are continuing to get themselves a strong foothold in the conference standings. Santa Clara held on to the No. 1 spot this week in the conference with a 4-0-1 record. SCU also ranks first in shots, points and goals. This is the second week in a row the Broncos have topped all three categories.
Individually, McCray holds the No. 3 spot in saves, tallying 23 total and averaging 4.60 per game. In the assists category, Orand and Bosio are tied with each other for fourth place. Each player has dished out two assists this season; however Orand averages 0.50 per game to Bosio's 0.40 per game.
Bosio also continues to make an appearance in points and goals. She is tied for the No. 6 spot with current WCC Player of the Week Lewis with six points. In goals, Bosio ties with Estrada and Meagan Snell for seventh place with two goals each (0.40 per game). Meanwhile, Lewis moved up to No. 4 in goals, netting three and averaging 0.60 per game along with Brittany Klein. Klein rounds out the Broncos category leaders at the No. 5 spot in points, averaging 1.40 per game.
Scouting Arizona State
The Sun Devils open this weekend with a 4-2-0 mark. ASU is currently riding a three game winning streak that includes its most recent victories over SMU (4-1) and TCU (2-0). On Friday, against SMU, Carly Kallas fired two balls to the back of the net, while Alissa Oldenkamp and Courtney Crane chipped in with a goal each. Against TCU, the Sun Devils were led by Kyleyn Felts and Lauren Niblett, who score the match's two goals.
ASU is led by freshman forward Karin Volpe, who as registered five total points on two goals and one assist. Midfielder Kallas is second on the team with four points (two goals) and defender Felts rounds out the top three with one goal and one assist for three total points. Spending all the time in the net for the Sun Devils has been Briana Silvestri. The sophomore as collected 14 saves this season and has posted three shutouts.
Santa Clara is 3-0-0 in the all-time series against Arizona State. The teams last met on Aug. 26, 2005 at Buck Shaw Stadium, where the Broncos blanked the Sun Devils, 2-0.
Scouting Arizona
The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 4-2-0 overall record as well and will host the Hookies of Virginia Tech before welcoming the Broncos to Mulcahy Stadium Sunday afternoon. Last weekend, Arizona went 1-1. The Wildcats defeated the Lobos of New Mexico, 4-1, and fell to the Cavaliers of Virginia, 4-0. Jasmin Day, Analisa Marquez, London King and Jasmine Namdar each scored a goal in the Cats victory over the Lobos. For their efforts, junior Savanah Levake, sophomore Samantha Drees and freshman Day received all-tournament team selections.
Leading the attack for Arizona is forward Day. She is first on the team with three goals. In assists, forward Drees is the team leader with three total. In the goal, Danielle Nicolai has seen action in all six Wildcats contests, starting in five. She has tallied 26 saves and a .743 saves percentage.
Sunday's game marks the first meeting of the two programs.
On Deck
The Broncos return to action on Friday, Sept. 28 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Santa Clara will face Cal Poly at 7 p.m. Later that weekend, SCU will return to Buck Shaw Stadium to host No. 19 California on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.