Nov. 10, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - It is only fitting that on Santa Clara's Senior Day, two of the elder players on the team led the Broncos to a 3-0 shutout of West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary's. Defender Kendall Doherty came up with two huge goals for the Broncos, while forward Meagan Snell capped things off with the third and final goal. With the win, Santa Clara improved its overall record to 12-5-3 and finished conference play 4-3-0, while Saint Mary's ends the season with a 6-11-2 overall record and a 0-7-0 league mark.
"Today was a day to showcase our seniors and how much we appreciate them and their hard work," said head coach Jerry Smith. "But it's also an important day from the entire team. Everyone worked really hard and for Kendall, I think her dreams for her senior day unfolded perfectly. She scored two great goals for us and almost had two more."
The Broncos controlled the play in the first half and started things off with a shot from Kiki Bosio that fell into the hands of the Gaels' goalkeeper Cari Makino. Bosio attempted two more shots, both finding their way over the goal, however in the 35th minute, the sophomore forward sent one of her famous flip throws into the center of the action. Doherty was on the receiving end of the pass and sent the ball to the back of the net to put Santa Clara up, 1-0.
Just thirty seconds later, Doherty struck again, this time with a header off a pass from Anessa Patton, that went over the goalkeeper's head to make the score 2-0 for SCU. The Broncos earned their final goal of the afternoon eight seconds later as Snell gained control of the ball after a scramble in front of the box and tapped it in. The goal was her 20th career goal and third of the season.
Yet there were nine minutes remaining in the first half, and Doherty's third shot of the afternoon almost became the Broncos first hat trick of the season but was narrowly saved by Makino. Bosio ended the first half for the Broncos with a shot that clipped the crossbar with just a few second remaining.
The Broncos set two new records in the first 45 minutes of Saturday's game. The 30 seconds between Doherty's goals became the new individual record for time elapsed between goals, while the eight seconds between Doherty's second goal and Snell's goal set a new team record for time elapsed between goals. The previous record was 15 seconds in October 2002 and was held by Kristi Candau and Micaela Esquivel, while the individual record of 54 seconds was set by Kristi DeVert in October 1991.
In the second half, Santa Clara made some changes to their lineup and placed junior Lisa Lahman in goal, while substituting in Kendra Perry, Alyssa Chun and Lindsey Johnson. With fresh legs on the field, the Broncos continued to apply pressure on Saint Mary's defense; however the Gaels did not make things easy for Lahman, who collected three saves. In the 60th minute, Doherty attempted her final shot of the day at earning a hat trick, but the ball deflected off the post.
Santa Clara waits to find out its postseason fate on Monday, Nov. 12 when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. Fans can watch the selection show on ESPNU at 5 p.m. PT