PROVO, Utah – No. 23 Santa Clara women's soccer went into one of the toughest environments in college soccer and battled to a scoreless draw with No. 13 BYU on Saturday night.
The night belonged to Marlee Nicolos who made a career-high 12 saves, doubling her previous best. Nicolos made the play of the night on the final shot attempt as she dove to her right to knock a would-be goal wide as the clock expired.
The Broncos (9-6-2, 6-0-1 WCC) defense was stout all night, closing on Cougar (8-2-6, 4-0-3 WCC) attackers and never giving a clear lane to the goal.
The result means that a win in either of their final two games, and Santa Clara is outright West Coast Conference champions.
NOTES
- This was the first time BYU had been shutout at home since a 2-0 loss to No. 1 Stanford on August 30, 2018. It was a stretch of 40 matches.
- Over their last five matches with the Cougars, one of the highest-powered offenses in the country, the Broncos have surrendered just two goals.
- Makoto Nezu returned to the lineup after missing the last five matches with an injury.
- Santa Clara is now 10-3-7 all-time vs. BYU.
INTERVIEW
Hear from head coach Jerry Smith after the Broncos became the first team to shutout BYU in Provo since 2018, a span of 40 matches.#StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/vtnJeo7gEH
— Santa Clara Women's Soccer (@SCUWomensSoccer) October 30, 2022
NEXT UP
The Broncos return home to take on Gonzaga Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
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