SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In another tough and physical game, No. 22 Santa Clara women's soccer tied Wisconsin 1-1 on Sunday afternoon at Stevens Stadium. Both goals were scored early in the match, less than three minutes apart.
From the opening kick, Santa Clara (2-2-2) was thrown off by the Badgers (1-2-3) physical style of play. Wisconsin was able to control the early part of the match before the Broncos were able to adjust.
"The scouting report is out on us and if you're physical it will throw us of our game a little bit," Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith said. "Our girls have to learn to be a little tougher and a little more proactive. One of the key things in our sport is early body position. If you lose early body position, it's like swimming upstream. I thought we grew a little bit today in our aggressiveness but they were the more aggressive team and that was a factor in the result."
Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead in the 16th minute on a failed clear by the Bronco defense. The ball went straight to the feet of Emily Borgmann who hit her shot to the near post and in.
Santa Clara answered right back with a goal in the 19th to tie it at 1-all. Janae Gonzalez took a nice shot that was punched away by the goalkeeper but the rebound when to Julie Vass who was able to find the back of the net.
"Today was a pretty even game between two hard working teams," Smith said. "We were disappointed that we didn't finish more of our chances. If we had gotten our shots on frame in the first half we felt like we would have had a nice lead. But both teams had good chances to score and I think a tie is a fair result."
The action picked up late with both teams creating dangerous chances that could have decided the outcome.
Jamie Donohue of Wisconsin was able to get behind the defense in the 87th minute but her shot clanged off the crossbar.
Katie Pingel followed with a great chance of her own in the 87th. She slipped in behind the defense but got her first shot saved. The rebound came straight back to Pingel to had another try but Caitlyn Clem was there for the stop.
In the second overtime a loose ball in the Bronco box almost gave Wisconsin a win before the defense was able to clear. On the other end of the field, Jordan Jesolva lined up for a shot but the Wisconsin defense was able to get in the way.
"Every game we're experimenting with a new starting lineup and it cost us today," Smith said. "It's good to figure these things out but we're going to have to make a decision because we've had too many games where we didn't start well. We are progressing well and in a good place. I'm disappointed with two ties at home this week. If we identified one thing it would be the lack of quality finishing."
Santa Clara is now 7-0-4 in its last 11 overtime games. The Broncos haven't lost in extra time since Aug. 24, 2014.
The Broncos return to the pitch Friday at 7:30 p.m. against No. 23 Notre Dame at Stevens Stadium.