Broncos Athletics

Men's and Women's Soccer Both Open Season in Top-25

Posted: Aug 02, 2022

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Both Santa Clara men's and women's soccer programs will enter the season ranked in the United Soccer Coaches' Poll's top-25. The women check in at No. 5 with the men earning a ranking of No. 22.

WOMEN

The Broncos are coming off of their second consecutive trip to the College Cup, played at Santa Clara in December, after winning their second National Championship during the 2020 season, played in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After a slow start, Santa Clara found its stride at the right time, going 12-1-1 over the final 14 matches, including wins over No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 11 BYU, No. 20 Stanford, at No. 22 Georgetown, and at No. 4 Duke.

A total of eight players finished their collegiate careers after last season, including All-Americans Kelsey Turnbow and Alex Loera. Nine newcomers, seven freshmen and two transfers, look to step in and replace the lost productions.

The top returner is Izzy D'Aquila, a First Team All-West Region and All-WCC pick. She finished second in the team in goals (8) and points (20) and third in assists (4). Also back in net are the combo of Marlee Nicolos, who was the starter during the 2020 campaign, and Kylie Foutch who took over for Nicolos in 2021 after she went down with a knee injury.

The regular season begins August 18 at San Jose State with the home opener August 21 vs. UC Davis.

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MEN

The defending West Coast Conference Champion, Santa Clara men's soccer, returns 10 players that saw action in 10 or more matches. The 2021 team finished ranked 20^th in the final United Soccer Coaches poll after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Head coach Cam Rast was named WCC Coach of the Year for the sixth time last season after leading the Broncos to a 12-2-4 record including going undefeated in conference play at 5-0-2. The Broncos had a 13-game unbeaten streak before falling to Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. The Broncos finished the regular season with their highest winning percentage (.813) since 2004 when they were 16-2-4 (.818) and went undefeated in the WCC for the fourth time in program history.

Oladayo Thomas, a first team WCC selection a year ago, returns for his senior season after leading the WCC in points (26) and goals (nine) while finishing second in assists (eight).

The Broncos also welcome back a pair of second team all-conference selections in Alejandro Barajas and Joshua Dabora while all-freshman member Tyrone Kirunda is also back.

The regular season begins August 25 against UNLV at home with two exhibition matches preceding it at Sacramento State (Aug. 16) and Cal Poly (Aug. 20).

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