Check out photos from the match! (Credit Denis Concordel)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In its second matchup against a top-25 team, No. 16 Santa Clara women's soccer fell to No. 25 Notre Dame by a final of 2-0. The loss puts the Broncos at 2-2-0 on the season while the Fighting Irish are 3-2-0.
Santa Clara returns to the field Sun., Sept. 7 at 2:30 p.m. vs. Fresno State in the second game of a men's and women's soccer doubleheader.
"We tried a new formation today, a 4-4-2, and didn't look good in it at all," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "Sometimes when you try a new formation you look like you're thinking about the formation instead of the game, and that's what we looked like. They scored a quality first goal but in the second half we battled and created some better chances. It was disappointing to give up the second goal, a goal we felt we shouldn't have allowed. We'll learn some lessons about toughness and competing from this game and get ready for a good Fresno State team."
Santa Clara was outshot by Notre Dame 12-4 and shots on goal were 8-1 in favor of the Irish. Sofia Huerta led the way for the Bronco offense with two shots and one on goal while Kat McAuliffe and Jordan Jesolva each attempted one shot. Andi Tostanoski picked up six saves in net.
Huerta curled a ball in the 16th minute from the top-right of the box that just sailed wide to keep the game scoreless.
Notre Dame drew first blood in the 18th minute on a beautiful goal from Morgan Andrews, assisted by Karin Muya. Andrews curled in a shot from the right side of the box that gave Tostanoski no chance to make a stop.
Santa Clara was outshot by Notre Dame 7-3 and shots on goal were 3-1 in favor of the Fighting Irish in the first half. Huerta led the way for the Bronco offense with two shots and one on goal. Tostanoski picked up two saves in net.
Notre Dame had the first dangerous scoring chance of the second half when Andrews fired a long shot from outside the box in the 74th minute. Tostanoski lunged to her left to make the save.
The Broncos turned the ball over just outside their own box and Muya capitalized in the 82nd minute. An attempt to head the ball back to the goalkeeper wasn't strong enough and Muya got the ball one-on-one with the keeper before knocking it into the back of the net.
Notre Dame retained possession for most of the remaining eight minutes and held on for the 2-0 win.
