SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In front of a raucous crowd of students the night before classes begin, Santa Clara women's soccer topped UC Davis by a final of 3-1. The win puts the Broncos at 5-4-0 on the season while the Aggies are 3-7-0.
Santa Clara returns to the field Fri., Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at CSU Northridge.
"Today was a good step for us," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "We controlled the game which is what you want to do. I thought our quality in the attacking third in the first half, when we led 2-0, wasn't what it needed to be. In the second half I thought we looked better. It was great for Anjel Brown to get her first goal and for Mariana Galvan to get back on the field after her third ACL injury. We were pretty sharp today and I was happy with our performance."
Smith was also pleased with the student turnout and the noise the student section made.
"It's so much more fun to play home games when your students are here," said Smith. "In college athletics, students can make a huge difference in the outcome of the game. If the students weren't here, who knows what the score would have been. We want to thank our students for coming out today and being loud. We hope we entertained them enough to where they'll come back for more games because they will make a difference for us in big games."
Santa Clara outshot Davis 18-5 and shots on goal were 6-3 in favor of the Broncos. Sofia Huerta led the Bronco offense with a goal and an assist while Brittany Ambrose and Anjel Brown each had one goal. Kelly Peay and Kat McAuliffe each added an assist. Andi Tostanoski picked up two saves in net.
Santa Clara jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the seventh minute on the seventh goal of the season from Huerta. Peay sent a long pass from near midfield into the box to Huerta who headed it past the goalkeeper.
Ambrose scored her second goal of the year in the 16th minute to make it 2-0 Broncos. Huerta put a nifty move on a defender near the baseline and sent a pass to Ambrose who connected for the goal.
Santa Clara outshot Davis 9-1 and shots on goal were 3-0 in favor of the Broncos in the first half. Huerta and Ambrose led the way for the Bronco offense with a goal each while Huerta and Peay had one assist apiece.
The Broncos continued to apply offensive pressure throughout the second half. Huerta nearly scored multiple times and Jordan Jesolva had a beautiful chance to score but her touch went just wide.
McAuliffe took a free kick in the 86th minute from just outside the box near the end line. She sent the ball to the box where Brown got her head on the ball for her first goal of the season. The goal made the score 3-0.
In the 87th minute Lexi Poppoff sent a long through ball to Haley Hughes who slipped behind the defense for a one-on-one with Tostanoski. Hughes was able to slip it past the goalkeeper to make it 3-1 where the game would end.
