Sept. 27, 2007
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 1 Bronco women's soccer team continues play on the road with a trip to San Luis Obispo, Calif., to take on the Mustangs of Cal Poly. Kickoff for the Friday contest is schedule for 7 p.m. Santa Clara will then make a quick appearance at home on Sunday, Sept. 30 as it battles No. 22 California at 1 p.m.
Last Week For Bronco Women's Soccer
Santa Clara continued its dominance on the field as it dished out two shutouts to Arizona State and Arizona last weekend to improve its overall record to 6-0-1. The Broncos enhanced their overall series record to 4-0-0 against the Sun Devils of Arizona State Friday night. After facing harsh environmental setbacks, Kiki Bosio netted an unassisted goal to give SCU the 1-0 victory. On Sunday, Santa Clara and Arizona battled to a double overtime finish. Brittany Klein scored the game-winning goal at the 102 minute of the match on a free kick from Tina Estrada.
Senior Klein leads the Broncos this season with nine points on four goals and one assist. Sophomore Bosio checks in at second place with eight points and is tied with Courtney Lewis with three goals. Lexi Orand has dished out a team-best three assists thus far, while goalkeeper Meagan McCray has started all seven contests this season. The junior has collected 30 saves, while posting three shutouts.
Broncos Take First Place in NSCAA Top 25
With a seven match win streak and three shutouts on the season, the Santa Clara women's soccer team moved into the No. 1 spot on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 this week. The Broncos made the move from No. 2 to No. 1 this week after posting back-to-back shutouts against Arizona State and Arizona.
SCU also moved into first place in both Soccer Times and Soccer Buzz's weekly Top 25 polls. The Broncos continue to hold onto a No. 1 ranking in the Soccer America weekly poll for the third straight week, while moving up from No. 4 to No. 2 in TopDrawerSoccer.com's poll.
Johnson and Igwe Earn Team Of The Week Honors
The Santa Clara women's soccer defense has played a huge role in the Broncos success thus far this season. Helping the back line and earning their first weekly honors of the season are redshirt freshman Lindsey Johnson and senior Chioma Igwe.
Johnson picked up her first-ever weekly honor as she was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com's team of the week, while Igwe received her second career weekly honor after nabbing Soccer Buzz National team of the week accolades.
Both defenders aided in the Broncos 1-0 sweeps of Arizona State and Arizona last weekend, to give SCU their fifth and sixth consecutive wins of the season and goalkeeper McCray her second and third shutouts of the season.
Home Sweet Home
Santa Clara enters Sunday's game against No. 22 California with an unbeaten streak that dates back to Sept. 22, 2006, when the Broncos swept UCLA, 3-0. The Broncos current home consecutive wins record is 10-0-1, while their overall record at Buck Shaw Stadium as of Sept. 9, is 196-26-13. This season, the Broncos have gone 3-0-1 at home and will look to continue their conquering record with their remaining five home contests. Not since the 1998 and 1999 season has SCU gone undefeated at home.
Broncos Rank Among NCAA Division I Unbeaten Teams
As of Sept. 24, only nine NCAA Division I teams remain unbeaten this year. Ten other teams that were undefeated going into last weekend lost for the first time. Topping the list is Marquette with an 8-0-1 record. The Golden Eagles are followed by Boston College (7-0-1), Villanova (7-0-2), Santa Clara (6-0-1), BYU (6-0-2), Kentucky (6-0-2), St. John's (6-0-2), Massachusetts (5-0-1) and Appalachian State (5-0-2).
McCray And The Record Books
Thus far this season, McCray is the lone member of the 2007 Santa Clara squad to rank in the Bronco record books. The Novato, Calif., native entered this season tied for second in the all-time goals-against average category. After the first month of play, the junior goalkeeper owns a 0.63 career average and claims second place all to herself. McCray also recently entered the all-time shutouts list. She is tied for the No. 9 spot with a career total of 12. In single season records, she now owns the No. 9 and No. 10 spots in goals-against average. Her current average after seven games this season is 0.66.
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.
Broncos On The National Stage
In this week's national rankings, Santa Clara scoring offense dropped to No. 43 in the nation, but its win-loss-tied percentage jump from No. 11 to No. 3. The Bronco made another appearance in goals-against Average (No. 46), shutout percentage (No. 79) and save percentage (No. 44). Meanwhile, Orand climbs from No. 81 to No. 59 in the nation in assists per game, while goalkeeper McCray rockets from No. 95 to No. 45 in saves percentage, and from No. 99 to No. 51 in goals-against average. Senior Klein rounds out SCU's national leader at No. 97 in goals per game.
Santa Clara in WCC
The Broncos continue to hold onto first place in the West Coast Conference this week, while checking in the top five of seven categories. Santa Clara ranks second in goals and goals allowed, while claiming the No. 3 spot in points and goals-against average. In shutouts, the Broncos are in fourth place in the conference, and round out the top five in saves.
Individually, six Broncos are ranking in this week's statistical categories. McCray keeps her third place standing in both saves and shutouts. In assists, Orand checks in at No. 5, while Bosio is tied for seventh. Bosio is also tied for seventh with teammate Lewis in goals, while Klein ties for first in the same category. In points, Klein claims the No. 4 spot, while Bosio is tied for fifth, and in shots per game, Estrada makes an appearance in the No. 6 spot.
Scouting Cal Poly
Cal Poly will host Santa Clara with a 1-6-1 overall mark this season, which is the Mustangs slowest start to the season in program history. In their last outing, the Mustangs tied BYU, 0-0. Leading Cal Poly's attack was Erica Zumbahlen, Sharon Day and Carrie Andrews, who each had two attempts. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Alli Tramel posted eight saves.
Whitney Sisler, Ashley Vallis, Ally Kellogg and Julieanne Grinstead have all netted one goal for Cal Poly. Senior Tramel has played starting goalkeeper for the Mustangs this season. She has posted two shutouts, while collecting 40 saves.
SCU leads the all-time record against Cal Poly, 13-1-3. The lone loss in the record happened during their first meeting in 1981. The teams last met on Sept. 25, 2005 at Buck Shaw Stadium, when the Broncos blanked the Mustangs, 2-0. Then-sophomore Angeli netted both goals for SCU.
Scouting Cal
The Golden Bears enter the weekend with a 6-2-0 overall record and are ranked No. 22 by Soccer Times. In the NSCAA, Cal rounds out the Top 25. The Bears opened the season with a four-game win streak that was snapped by a double overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 14. Since then, Cal has gone 2-1 and most recently produced a 1-0 victory over Kansas. Katherine Daiss scored the game-winning goal.
Daiss is tied for first on the team with Stephanie Wieger. Both players have tallied six points on two goals and two assists. Two Bears have seen time between the posts this season. Gina Pellegrini has played in six games this season and posted three shutouts and 19 total saves, while Jorden Kussmann has seen action in four games and earned one shutout.
Santa Clara and California last met on Nov. 1, 2006 in Berkeley, Calif. The game went into overtime with the Bears registering the golden goal to gain the 1-0 victory. The all-time series between the two teams is a tight one as Cal owns a small edge over SCU, 13-15-3.
On Deck
The Broncos return to action on Friday, Oct. 5, against the Cardinal of Stanford. The local rivalry match-up will begin at 7:30 p.m., at Maloney Field in Stanford, Calif. Later that weekend, Santa Clara travels south to face UCLA on Sunday, Oct. 7 at 1 p.m.