SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The 2010 edition of the Santa Clara women's soccer team cruised to a shutout-victory in its season-opener this evening in front of 761 fans at Buck Shaw Stadium, defeating San Diego State, 1-0.
Senior Maxine Goynes was credited with the game-winner, scoring in the 22nd minute as the Bronco defense stifled the Aztecs throughout the night.
Santa Clara seized control of the game from the beginning and had its first solid chance about 15 minutes into the match. After a hard foul from San Diego State, freshman Alyson Birgel hit a free kick from just beyond the 18-yard box and to the right of the arc, but the try sailed high and wide.
A few minutes later, Goynes almost put the Broncos on the board when she nearly finished a through-ball that SDSU goalkeeper Aubree Southwick got enough of a piece of to thwart the chance.
Goynes made good on her second attempt of the game though, accepting freshman Julie Johnston's pass at the top of the box, then turning and firing to the lower left corner. Southwick was able to get a hand on the shot, but couldn't keep it out of the back of the net, giving the Broncos their first goal of the season.
That goal was all Santa Clara needed as the Broncos went on to outshoot the Aztecs, 11-2. Both of SDSU's shots, which came in the second half, went well wide of the net leaving junior goalkeeper Bianca Henninger untested as she collected her first shutout of the season.
"I'm always happy when we have a shutout and I'm always happy we can score goals," said head coach Jerry Smith. "I'd like to have scored more than the one goal we did tonight, but you've got to credit San Diego State. I thought they played well and they were organized defensively. They didn't threaten our goal very much today but I thought...their goalkeeper put in a solid performance and they showed why they won their conference championship last year. They are a very solid team." (Click here to hear full audio quotes from Coach Smith)
Santa Clara (1-0-0) returns to the pitch on the Mission Campus on Sunday, taking on San Jose State at 1 p.m. The Spartans are 0-1-0 after falling, 2-1, to San Francisco on Friday night.
