Sept. 24, 2004
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The ninth-ranked Santa Clara University women's soccer team opened its home season with a 2-0 victory over Marquette this evening as part of the ninth annual Santa Clara adidas Classic, hosted by Bank of Santa Clara at Buck Shaw Stadium. Sophomore Tina Estrada scored the game-winning goal off a free kick to improve the Broncos' record to 5-2-1. The Golden Eagles' record evens to 4-4-0.
No. 15 Stanford opened the tournament earlier in the evening with a 3-0 victory over Denver. The Cardinal out-shot the Pioneers 14-1. Click Here for that box score.
Although the Broncos' match was scoreless at the half, Santa Clara held a 9-2 shot advantage, in part to two strong attempts by senior Bree Horvath. Her first just trickled wide of the post and her second forced Golden Eagle keeper Katie Bissen to punch the ball over the net. It was the first of seven saves Bissen would record on the evening. She recorded two more just before intermission, stopping shots from senior Leslie Osborne and freshman Brittany Klein.
"Marquette is a strong defensive team and I thought their goalkeeper played outstanding tonight," SCU head coach Jerry Smith said after the match. "She made it extremely tough to score goals."
Fourteen minutes into the second half, Klein was racing down the right side and was tripped right outside the box. The Broncos were awarded a free kick. Estrada's left-footed opportunity bounced off a Marquette defender's foot and into the goal for her fourth score of the season.
"We've increased our pressing defense and we're winning the ball higher up the field," Smith explained. "Teams are scrambling to defend us and are fouling to slow us down. I'm happy we were able to execute on the opportunity tonight. After the first half, we needed to be the more aggressive team and I thought the team showed better energy in the second half."
Sophomore Marian Dalmy followed minutes later with a shot the hit the crossbar, but it wasn't until senior Megan Kakadelas' scored in the 77th minute that the Broncos increased their lead. Klein found junior Micaela Esquivel in the right corner, where Esquivel was able to cross the ball into the box. Kakadelas collected the pass, dodged a player and placed the ball high for her fourth goal of the season.
"Our team took a step in the right direction tonight," Smith concluded. "We are starting to develop some confidence and I think we're on the verge of producing a high-scoring game soon."
Stanford and Marquette will play each other on Sunday at 11 a.m. The Broncos will return to field at 1:30 that afternoon to take on the Pioneers. After the tournament, Bronco players and coaches will participate in a post-match autograph session.
