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The Santa Clara Classic Schedule is as follows:
Fri., Sept. 14 - No. 3 Stanford vs. San Diego State at 5 pm
Santa Clara vs. UNC Greensboro at 7:30 pm
Sun., Sept. 16 - No. 3 Stanford vs. UNC Greensboro at 11 am
Santa Clara vs. No. 15 San Diego State at 1:30 pm
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University women's soccer will once again host the Santa Clara Classic after taking a break from hosting duties in 2011. The tournament is in its 16th season in 2012. The Broncos will host No. 3 Stanford, UNC Greensboro and No. 15 San Diego State. Stanford will be making its 13th trip to the Classic and are 18-5-1 all-time with three tournament wins. The Broncos have taken home eight titles and are 26-2-2 while outscoring opponents 92-15 with 17 shutouts.
"We're really looking forward to having all of our eligible players available to us this week," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith, in his 26th season on the Mission campus. "Sofia [Huerta] coming back has made an immediate impact as she has been by far the most dangerous player on the field in her two games. Julie [Johnston] will have immediate impact as long as she can mentally and physically recover from the World Cup. As we experienced last year, Julie's impact is so impressive. She is a great player for sure, but she's a great leader and that impacts everybody."
Santa Clara has played its opponents very evenly through seven games which has led to a 3-2-2 record but a 2-0 mark at home. Santa Clara won 1-0 at No. 15 Cal while battling to a 1-1 tie vs. No. 23 Georgetown and lost to No. 1 Stanford to open the season. The Broncos have outshot opponents 100-97 and have 31 corner kicks to opponents' 29. Opponents have made 66 saves while Santa Clara has 65 and the Broncos have committed 85 fouls to the opposition's 86.
There is a three-way tie for the team-lead in goal scoring between Sarah Jackson, Lauren Matheson and Olivia Klei who each have two goals. Jackson and Kat McAuliffe have the only two assists of the season for Santa Clara. Freshman Andi Tostanoski has been very solid in goal by collected 33 saves and posting two shutouts.
"The fans are going to see a team that will play with more confidence and will be much more dynamic," said Smith about having all his eligible players available. "This will give the team an opportunity to score a lot of goals, which we haven't been doing. Last year Julie and Sofia were our top scorers and when they're both out there they have such a big impact for us on the attack. We're going to be much more dangerous and score a lot more goals in the next seven games than we did in the first seven."
UNC Greensboro is 2-3-0 in 2012 with wins at Wake Forest 1-0 and vs. UNC Asheville 7-0. The Spartans also took down North Carolina 1-0 in an exhibition. UNC Greensboro has been outshot by opponents 89-47, including 53-22 in the second half of games. It is also losing the battle of corner kicks as it has taken just 14 but given up 41.
Cat Barnekow, Chesney White and Tabirtha McHale are tied for the team-lead with two goal apiece and Karin Sendel and Mallory Ullrich have each scored once. Zoe Fishman leads the team with three assists while Barnekow is second with two and leads the team with six points. Jamie Simmons has played all but one half in goal for UNC Greensboro and has collected 30 saves to go with a .833 save percentage. She has collected two shutouts while giving up six goals.
San Diego State is a perfect 7-0 thus far. The Aztecs biggest win was vs. No. 5 Pepperdine 1-0 on Aug. 31. They have only played two games away from home all season so their road strength will be tested over the weekend. San Diego State has more than doubled its opponent's shot attempts 100-45, while outscoring opponents 10-1.
Megan Jurado paces the team with four goals scored and Haley Locker is second with three. Hanna Keane, Kelsey Booth and Tiffany Hurst have each added one goal. Keane leads the team with three assists while Locker and Sarah Halverson have two each. Jurado also has four game-winning goals to her credit. Rachel Boaz has been spectacular in net by allowing just one goal and a 0.14 GAA. She has collected 20 saves with a save percentage of .952 and six shutouts.
Stanford, the defending national champions, are 4-1-1 with its only loss coming at the Penn State Invitational to West Virginia by a score of 1-0. It was the first lost for the Cardinal since the 2010 national championship game that Notre Dame won 1-0. Stanford also tied No. 6 Boston College and beat No. 23 Georgetown 6-0. The Cardinal have dominated opponents while outshooting them 107-52 and allowing just 0.83 goals per game.
Natalie Griffen and Mariah Nogueira lead the team with four goals each while Sydney Payne and Alina Garciamendez are tied for second with three apiece. Courtney Verloo hasn't scored any goals but leads the team with five assists. Aly Gleason has made four starts and played in six games in net while allowing a 0.80 GAA and collecting 13 saves with one shutout. Lindsay Dickerson has started twice while allowing a 0.84 GAA and has collected one save.