Oct. 17, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara University freshman Lauren Zealear netted a goal and an assist to lead the 14th-ranked Broncos to a 4-1 victory over No. 20 Loyola Marymount in women's soccer West Coast Conference action tonight at Buck Shaw Stadium.
The team's first come-from-behind victory of the season moved the Broncos to an overall 8-3-4 record, 2-0 in the WCC, while the Lions fell to 7-4-3, 0-2. The all-time series favors Santa Clara now by a 9-2-0 margin.
The Lions struck first in the 10th minute, when the Bronco defense miss-cleared a pass and was collected by Kylie Beren. Her shot was deflected by Stephanie Tobin into the far right corner for the early lead. That score ended a shut out streak from freshman keeper Julie Ryder of 294:38 minutes, dating back to September 21 against Notre Dame.
Santa Clara responded just five minutes later, when Micaela Esquivel's cross found Zealear in the box. Her header went to the far right corner for the equalizer.
"We were playing so well today; I would have been disappointed if we would have lost or tied this match," Zealear said. "Micaela played a great ball and I was very excited to be able to put us on the board and tie the game up."
The score remained 1-1 through halftime, and the Broncos' offense didn't show any signs of a break, scoring two goals in the first seven minutes of the second period.
After scoring two goals within 49 seconds against San Diego to open league season last week, the Broncos almost repeated that performance against their second conference foe, as Kristi Candau and Tina Estrada netted goals just 65 seconds apart tonight.
Zealear assisted on Candau's score, centering a pass for the left-footed shot. Just one minute later, Estrada stole the ball in midfield and dribbled in for a strong attempt from outside the box that gave Santa Clara a 3-1 lead.
Tracy Hess put the game away for good with her tally in the final minute of play. Ryder punted the ball to Megan Kakadelas, who cut the right corner and dribbled back toward the goal. She then tapped it to Hess for the quick score.
Santa Clara out shot LMU 16-5. Three of the shots were by Lion Laura Trask, who hit the crossbar on two occasions: 48 seconds into the match and again at the 77:16 mark.
The Broncos continue the league season on Sunday, hosting seventh-ranked Pepperdine at 1 p.m. at Buck Shaw. Santa Clara leads the series 7-2-0, however, the Waves have won the last two contests.
