PORTLAND, Ore. - Santa Clara women's soccer (10-1-5; 3-0-1 WCC) defeated Portland (6-8-1; 1-3-0 WCC) 2-1 in their first road game in over six weeks. Portland was the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference, with Santa Clara tied for second. The Broncos got goals from Julie Johnston and Bridgett Miller, who missed the first three games of the season due to injury.

One of the heroes of the game was senior All-American goalkeeper Bianca Henninger who saved two penalty shots. The first penalty shot came in the fourth minute and Danielle Foxhoven was denied by Henninger. In the 45th minute after Alyssa Kleiner receieved a yellow card, Foxhoven was again denied by Henninger on a penalty kick.

In the fifth minute Margueritte Aozasa took a penalty kick that she centered to Johnston in the box. Johnston headed the ball from 12 yards out and knocked it past the goalkeeper to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Broncos. The goal was Johnston's team-leading ninth of the season.

The Pilots evened the score at 1-1 when they took a throw-in in the 63rd minute that Micaela Capelle let bounce over her head before she took control and ran around a defender. Her shot went into the upper-right corner of the net to beat the goalkeeper.

In the 85th minute Santa Clara took the lead back on the first goal of the season from Miller. Sofia Huerta sent a long pass to the right side of the box that Miller shot to the left side of the net and slipped it past the goalkeeper. The goal made the score 2-1 and from there Santa Clara began to play 10 players back.

Foxhoven nearly tied the game with under two minutes left in regulation. She took a cross and headed a shot that went just over the crossbar to keep the score at 2-1, where the game would end.

Santa Clara will finish the weekend on Sun., Oct. 23 vs. Gonzaga at 1 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.