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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Looking to bounce back after a conference-opening loss, No. 25 Santa Clara women's soccer returns to the field for two games this weekend. The Broncos play LMU on Friday at 7 p.m. and Pepperdine Sunday at 1 p.m. Last week Santa Clara fell to San Francisco 1-0 on a penalty kick. The Broncos are now 7-4-0 overall and 0-1-0 in WCC action.

"One of the wonderful challenges we have in sports is that it's hard to always throw you're a-game and sometimes you can lose a match, which is what happened to us. All credit to USF who played a great game," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "Now the challenge is to see if we have the resiliency to bounce back from some adversity. Games are won and lost during the preparation and I don't think we had a great prep week. Hopefully that will help our group focus heading into this week."

Grace Cutler leads Santa Clara with four goals and is tied with Dani Weatherholt for the team lead with eight points. Weatherholt has scored three goals to go with two assists. Julie Vass has also scored three goals and added an assist. Jenna Roering has scored twice to go with two assists while Megan Crosson is tied for the conference lead with four assists.

Andi Tostanoski has allowed just six goals for a 0.57 GAA. She has made 50 saves for a .893 save percentage and picked up six shutouts.

"We're playing two very tough teams this week," said Smith. "The challenge for us is going to be getting back on track in training. After a week where we didn't manage to play one game well, now we're faced with the prospect of playing two games well. The conference is very much up in the air this early in the season. Both teams will come in here with the attitude that they need to get results. We need to do the same thing. The obvious advantage we have is that we're at home. It's Grand Reunion this weekend so we're hoping to get some good crowds. Hopefully some of the alums that are around will inspire our players."

Santa Clara is 17-4-1 all-time vs. LMU with the first meeting coming in 1993. Last year the Broncos topped the Lions 2-0 in Los Angeles.

LMU (8-3-1, 2-0-0 WCC) is 1-2-1 on the road this season and has lost just one it its last 10 games. Last week the Lions started conference play with a 2-1 over Saint Mary's and a 2-0 win vs. Pacific.

Jocelyn Blankenship leads LMU in goals (5), assists (3), and points (13). Morgan Hilby has scored three goals while Shannon Kent and Sarina Bolden each have found the back of the net twice. Eight other Lions have scored one goal each and 10 have at least one assist.

Sophia Leksan and Charlee Pruitt have split time in net for LMU this year. Leksan has started 10 games and allowed 10 gaols for a 1.33 GAA. She has made 29 saves and has a .744 save percentage with two shutouts. Pruitt has started twice and played in seven games. She has allowed four goals for a 0.80 GAA and has made 16 saves for a .800 save percentage with one shutout.

Santa Clara is 13-8-0 all-time vs. Pepperdine with the first meeting coming in 1994. Last year the Broncos fell 2-1 in Malibu.

Pepperdine (6-4-2, 1-1-0 WCC) is 1-1-0 on the road this season. Last week the Waves topped Pacific 1-0 but lost to Saint Mary's by the same score.

Three Waves have scored two goals each to lead the team. Kristen Rodriguez has also added an assist to lead the team with five points. Bri Visalli and Jamie Van Horn are the other two players with two goals. Six other players have scored one goal each and six players have at least one assist.

Hannah Seabert has started all 12 games in net and has allowed 11 goals for a 0.92 GAA. She has made 38 saves for a .776 save percentage and has five shutouts.