SPOKANE, Wash. – Santa Clara women's soccer continued its good start to West Coast Conference play with a 2-1 win at Gonzaga Sunday afternoon.
The Broncos (8-6-1, 3-1 WCC) defense stood strong against a Zags (10-3-1, 2-2 WCC) offense that came into the day leading the West Coast Conference with 2.62 goals per match, while the Santa Clara offense scored multiple goals against Gonzaga for just the fourth time this season.
The defining moment of the match came in the 42nd minute right after the Broncos had taken a 1-0 lead. Off a corner, a header that was on its way in was saved off the line by Alex Loera and cleared away from danger to keep the momentum with Santa Clara.
The Broncos had taken their lead minutes earlier off a corner kick. Julie Doyle took the corner in the 38th and placed it right in front of the goal where D.B. Pridham got her head on the ball and found the back of the net.
Doyle went on to add a goal of her own in the 57th to make it 2-0. One-on-one with a defender outside the box, she made a move to get by herself and finished with a nicely placed shot inside the right post.
Gonzaga's lone goal came in the 70th minute off a penalty kick taken by Callie Best that she hit low and inside the right post.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 21-1-2 all-time against Gonzaga. The Broncos have won the last nine meetings and are unbeaten in the last 10.
- The Broncos put five of their eight shots on goal.
- Melissa Lowder had four saves.
- Twenty-three of Santa Clara's 28 goals this season have come from underclassmen with 13 coming from freshmen.
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"We're very pleased to go on the road and get two wins this weekend. I'm proud of the gritty mentality we showed, especially today. Scoring six goals on the trip is a sign that our attacking is really starting to gel, which is a good sign. We're looking to build on this momentum heading into next week and continue to get better in all facets of our game."
Head coach Jerry Smith
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The Broncos return home to face San Diego Saturday at 1 p.m.
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