Check out photos from the match! (Credit Denis Concordel)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Finishing an eight-game home stand, No. 18 Santa Clara women's soccer topped No. 22 BYU 2-1. The win puts the Broncos at 8-3-1 overall and 2-0-0 in West Coast Conference action while the Cougars are now 7-4-1 and 1-1-0 in conference play.
Santa Clara returns to the field on Fri., Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at Saint Mary's in the first road conference game of the year.
"I thought everything kind of came together for us today," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "We got caught sleeping on their first goal but other than that play I thought we were very solid today. Against good teams you're going to concede a goal so you need to be able to score two and we did that. Sofia scored a nice goal and Katie's goal was amazing. If you want a picture of what perfect shooting technique under pressure looks like, Katie's was it. I was happy with the way the team played today. That's the type of effort you have to have to win NCAA Tournament games. Today gives us a lot of confidence that we're going to win a lot of NCAA Tournament games if we keep playing like we did today."
The Broncos outshot the Cougars 18-6 and 8-3 in shots on goal. Sofia Huerta and Katie Speidel scored the Bronco goals while Morgan Marlborough and Julie Johnston each had one assist. Andi Tostanoski made two saves for Santa Clara.
Santa Clara had a golden opportunity in the eighth minute when Huerta crossed a ball into the box that was nearly knocked in for an own goal but the ball it off the crossbar. The rebound went to the head of Marlborough but her shot went just over the top of the goal for a BYU goal kick.
BYU scored first in the 11th minute off the foot of Colette Jepson Smith. Jaiden Thornock sent a short pass in front of the goal and Smith knocked it past the keeper for the 1-0 lead.
Santa Clara evened the score in the 40th minute on a beautiful play from Johnston and Huerta. Johnston dribbled down the field and passed to Huerta who, after a few touches, put the ball in the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
Santa Clara outshot BYU 8-3 and 3-2 in shots on goal in the first half. Huerta led the offense with four shots and three on goal while Tostanoski made one save.
The Cougars nearly took the lead in the 48th minute when Cloee Colohan got behind the defense but her shot hit the outside of the right post.
Marlborough almost put a shot just over the keeper in the 54th minute from outside the box but it was just high and landed on top of the net to keep the scored tied at 1-1.
Huerta hit the post in the 60th minute on a great chance to score. Off of a free kick Huerta took a pass and dribbled to the top of the box before blasting a shot that beat the goalkeeper but hit the corner of the post and the cross bar.
Santa Clara took its first lead of the game in the 83rd minute off the foot of Speidel. Speidel got the ball outside the box and dribbled down before passing to Marlborough who gave the ball back to her. Speidel fired a perfect shot into the net to make the score 2-1 Broncos.
The Broncos were able to run out the clock and seal the conference win.
Game Notes: Attendance was 829 … This was the first game the two teams have played since BYU joined the WCC that the game did not end in a scoreless draw … This was also the Broncos first win over BYU since BYU joined the WCC … BYU was given one yellow card.