SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After a split on opening weekend, Santa Clara women's soccer heads to South Bend to play in the Notre Dame Invitational. The Broncos will play No. 7 Notre Dame Fri., Aug. 28 at 4 p.m. and vs. Northwestern Sun., Aug. 30 at 8 a.m. Pacific. Last week Santa Clara opened the season with a 2-0 win at UC Davis before falling 2-1at Arizona. The Broncos are 1-1-0 on the young season.
"We accomplished so many things that we wanted to see on the opening weekend," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "We moved the ball pretty well which was a point of emphasis for us. We had more possession than our opponent in both games and had more quality chances. A lot of players got their first college action. All three of our goals were firsts for the players. We're disappointed we didn't get a better result at Arizona considering how well we played but we accomplished a lot."
Santa Clara was outshot in the first two games 24-20 and shots on goal were 13-8 in favor of their opponents.
Two freshmen and a sophomore scored their first career goals over the opening weekend. Janae Gonzalez and Grace Cutler scored in their first career game while Jenna Holtz scored at Arizona. Megan Crosson and Jenna Roering each had one assist.
Andi Tostanoski made 11 saves for a .846 save percentage in the first two games of the season. She allowed a 1.00 GAA and had one shutout.
Santa Clara is 6-12-1 all-time vs. Notre Dame with the first meeting coming in 1995. The last meeting was a 2-0 defeat at home vs. then-No. 25 Notre Dame last year.
Notre Dame enters the week with a 2-0-0 record. The Irish outscored their opponents 9-0 in the first two games of the season and outshot teams 53-1 with a 27-0 edge in shots on goal.
"We have a history of yearly matches with Notre Dame that we've really enjoyed," said Smith. "They're a top-10 team that's off to a great start and we'll be playing on their home turf. We have great respect for them. They host wonderful tournaments with such a professional approach. I'm happy our players get to come here for this. We'll also get a sneak peek at Portland and see how our conference stacks up against a couple of different ones."
Sandra Yu and Taylor Klawunder each scored two goals while Natalie Jacons and Kaleigh Olmsted each had a goal and an assist to lead the team with four points. Brittany Von Rueden leads the team with three assists.
In net Lexi Nicholas played 145 minutes without facing a shot. Kaela Little played the other 35 minutes without a shot on goal.
Santa Clara and Northwestern have never met before.
Northwestern enters the week with a 2-0-0 reocrd and have outscored their opponents 4-0. The Wildcats have outshot opponents 33-9 and 17-4 in shots on goal.
"This is the first time we'll be playing Northwestern so we're not familiar with them," said Smith. "Anytime you play a new team there's always anxiety as a coach about what the other coach likes to do. They're off to a good start and we'll get a chance to see them on Friday to get a scouting report."
Maria Fayeulle leads the team with two goals and four points despite playing just 34 minutes and not starting a game. Addie Steiner has a goal and an assist and Nandi Mehta has scored one goal. Two others have an assist each.
Lauren Clem has played all 180 minutes and picked up four saves without allowing a goal.
