SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With every point in the standings being crucial, Santa Clara women's soccer beat Gonzaga 2-1 Friday night at Stevens Stadium. The win keeps the Broncos within striking distance of a top-three finish in the West Coast Conference.
Santa Clara (7-6-4, 4-2-1) was in control from the opening kick, putting eight shots on goal to Gonzaga's (6-8-2, 2-5) four. The Broncos had several chances just miss finding the back of the net in the first half but came back with two beautiful goals in the second period.
The first goal broke the scoreless stalemate in the 51st minute. Machaela George got the ball outside the box on the right side of the field and sent it Natalie Kennedy near the top of the box. Kennedy took a touch and turned before firing across her body to the far post and into the back of the net.
"Natalie came through for us with a fantastic goal," Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith said. "This can be a funny game. We missed two easy goals today and Natalie came up with an amazing goal to get us on the board."
Earlier in the year Santa Clara struggled to score multiple goals each game, doing so just once in the first 12 matches. The Broncos have picked up the offense and have now scored two or more goals in four of the last five games.
Maddie Gonzalez was the one to add an insurance goal for Santa Clara in the 84th minute. She ran down a ball that had gotten behind the defense and dribbled for a few yards with a defender right on her before knocking a shot past the diving goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
"What a blistering shot Maddie had for the second goal," Smith said. "She rifled that to the far post. I'm happy for both the freshmen that came through for us today in the big time. I thought they both played really well."
VIDEO | Highlights/interviews with Jerry Smith/Natalie Kennedy after @SCUWomensSoccer's 2-0 win! #StampedeTogether https://t.co/DPanNgnm34 pic.twitter.com/SLv4BYJzql
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) October 29, 2016
Melissa Lowder picked up her fifth shutout of the season and lowered her GAA to 0.84. She made four saves on the day and helped lead a defense that allowed fewer than two goals for the 43rd consecutive game.
After the slow start, the Broncos completely dominated play in the final 45 minutes. They outshot the Bulldogs 10-1 in the period and drew three corner kicks while allowing none.
"In the first half we didn't have as much of a sense of urgency as I would have liked to see," Smith said. "We controlled possession but we had a lack of quality in the attacking third. I really thought we could have easily scored two goals in the first half. In the second half we came out with a little more energy and a little more intensity. We're going to have to be sharper in front of goal going forward but we'll take a shutout and scoring multiple goals in a game any day."
The Broncos return to the pitch Sunday at 1 p.m. against rival Portland for senior Day. Santa Clara will honor Brittany Ambrose, Anjel Brown, Kiara Burkett, Mariana Galvan, Jordan Jesolva, Jenna Roering, and Julie Vass.
Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Women's Soccer: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
