Check out photos from the game! (Credit Denis Concordel)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In its lone game of the week, No. 19 Santa Clara women's soccer shutout Gonzaga 2-0 to pick up its second WCC win this season. Santa Clara moves to 9-3-4 overall and 2-1-1 in WCC play while Gonzaga is now 6-9-1 and 0-4-1 in conference.
Julie Johnston and Dani Weatherholt scored the Bronco goals while Sofia Huerta and Lauren Matheson registered an assist each. Johnston's goal was her team-best fifth of the season and she leads the team with 13 points. Freshman goalkeeper Andi Tostanoski made three saves while playing in her first game since October 5.
Santa Clara will next play on Fri., Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at San Francisco and again on Sun., Oct. 28 at 11:30 a.m. vs. San Diego at Buck Shaw.
"One of our goals in every game is to score two or more goals and we were able to achieve that today," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "We're always hoping for a shutout and it's nice when we get one. A 2-0 win vs. Gonzaga is a solid result and the results on the field today were what we were looking for. It wasn't our A-game but it's a good sign when you can still come away with a 2-0 conference win and not play your best. We have different players impacting the game, which is something we always like to see and there wasn't any point in the game where they threatened us and put us on our heels. There were a lot of positives for us out there today."
Santa Clara controlled the ball through much of the game and broke through for the first time in the 23rd minute. Matheson dribbled the ball down the left side of the field and from just outside the box she sent a cross into Weatherholt who put a head on the pass and found the back of the net to put the Broncos up 1-0.
The Broncos added on to their lead in the 86th minute when Huerta fired a cross from the left side of the field into a crowded box where Johnston was able to get her head on the ball to make the score 2-0. After the goal, Johnston was down momentarily but was able to get up and finish the game.