SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Hitting the pitch for a series of games over the past month, the Santa Clara women's soccer team worked out the kinks in preparation for the upcoming fall campaign and came away victorious in three out of four matches.
"We discovered a lot of things during this spring season," said head coach Jerry Smith. "Overall, the spring was a great success. We figured out what did and didn't work and we feel prepared to transition this success to the fall."
Kicking off the action on the second day of April, Santa Clara fell to the University of California, Berkeley by a score of 6-3. Despite a slow start from the gates, the Broncos responded with a vengeance in their next outing. Challenging the semi-professional California Storm from the Women's Premier Soccer League 10 days later, Santa Clara netted nine goals en route to a lopsided shutout. The following week, the Broncos travelled to the state capital and maintained their winning form, downing California State University, Sacramento 3-1. Five days later, Santa Clara would play its eventual spring season finale against cross-town rival San Jose State University. Playing on the Spartans' home field, the Broncos tallied their third victory with a 4-1 decision.
Heading into the spring, the coaching staff was focused on establishing offensive production. Over the past two years, Santa Clara has lost the likes of perennial goal scorers in the names of Julie Johnston, Morgan Marlborough, Sofia Huerta, and a number of others. Netting 19 goals in four matches was a welcomed result for the squad.
"Our main objectives were to score goals and tally assists," said Smith. "We certainly proved that we could score goals in those four matches. We feel very good about that aspect of the game going forward."
The Broncos also experimented a great deal at areas across the pitch, utilizing these matches as a chance to determine what will come to benefit the team come next fall.
"Rarely do you play that well when you are trying to experiment," said Smith. "The most important thing is to figure out what doesn't work. Figuring out what doesn't work gives us a head start in terms of preparing for the fall."
One particular experiment proved to be a success for the Broncos. For the first time in program history, Santa Clara welcomed a recent high school graduate to the Mission Campus to participate with the squad and get a jump start on training. Inserting Gracie Cutler into the lineup in all four matches, the newest member of the Bronco roster burst onto the scene and scored a goal in every contest.
Santa Clara will now refine its roster situation and hone in on tactics over the coming months in preparation for the 2015 campaign which is set to kick off in just a few months.
NOTES: Santa Clara was scheduled to round out its spring season against Stanford University in early May but injuries and international duty for both squads resulted in a mutual decision to cancel the match.
