Oct. 19, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Senior captain Brittany Klein's header in the 75th minute of Friday night's game gave the ninth-ranked Santa Clara women's soccer a 2-1 victory over West Coast Conference foe, Pepperdine. With the win the Broncos improved to 9-3-3 overall and 1-1-0 in league play, while the Waves dropped to 3-6-5 on the season and 0-2-0 in the WCC.
The all-time series between the two teams has a 10-4-0 overall record in Santa Clara's favor and, with Friday night's win, the Broncos remain undefeated against the Waves at Buck Shaw Stadium (7-0).
"We had good intensity and a great effort was made by our team," said head coach Jerry Smith. "We were the more aggressive team and, ultimately, it was a hard-fought win with two very special goals."
Both the Broncos and the Waves came out of the gates running in the first half. Pepperdine registered not only the first shot of the night, but the first goal as Sophia Medina took advantage of a fast break down the right side of the field early in the second minute. Medina sent the ball into the left side of the net to put the Waves up, 1-0. The pressure did not stop there for SCU's goalkeeper Meagan McCray, who collected seven saves in the contest on Pepperdine's 10 total shots. However, it wasn't until the middle of the second half that the Broncos were able to get on the board.
An unassisted goal from sophomore Kiki Bosio equalized the game for Santa Clara, 1-1, in the 74th minute. The forward fought her way through several Waves defenders and then went one-on-one with goalkeeper Kayla Stolte before striking the ball into the back of the net. Just a little over a minute later, sophomore Katherine Reynolds found Klein in the middle of the box, who then headed the ball in for the game-winning goal.
The Broncos will closeout their brief home stand with a Noon contest against the Lions of LMU on Sunday, Oct. 21.