Women's Soccer Earns At-Large Bid to 27th NCAA Tournament

Women's Soccer Earns At-Large Bid to 27th NCAA Tournament
Posted: Nov 06, 2017

VIDEO: Smith Addresses Women's Soccer After NCAA Selection | Full Bracket
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's soccer earned an at-large bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament on Monday. The Broncos will travel to Cal Saturday at 1:30 p.m. It is the 27th tournament appearance for the Broncos, including the third in a row and eighth in the last nine years.

Santa Clara and Bears have faced-off five times in the NCAA Tournament with the Broncos holding a 3-2 edge. The last meeting was in 2013 with Santa Clara coming away with a 2-1 victory at then-Buck Shaw Stadium. The last meeting in Berkeley came in 2000 when the Broncos won 2-0. Earlier this season, the Bears topped the Broncos 2-1 in Berkeley.

Santa Clara finished second in the WCC standings, just one point behind Pepperdine. The Broncos led the conference with 46 goals scored and 127 points and tied for the league lead with 35 assists.

They are led on offense by Kelsey Turnbow who finished the regular season second in the WCC with 12 goals and second on the Broncos with five assists. She has the most goals by a freshman in a season since Leslie Osborne scored 13 in 2001, the year Santa Clara won the national championship.

Maddy Gonzalez has scored eight goals and added four assists while Julie Doyle also has eight goals and three assists but will miss the rest of the year with an injury. Maria Sanchez finished tied for the conference lead with six assists and has scored four goals. Seven other Broncos have scored at least once.

Last year the Broncos earned an at-large bid and hosted Long Beach State in the first route before traveling to Stanford where they beat the top-seeded Cardinal 1-0 in double overtime and took down North Carolina State 3-0. In the national quarterfinals, Santa Clara fell 1-0 at No. 5 Georgetown.

VIDEO: Head Coach Jerry Smith Addresses Team (Click here for full clip)

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