Sept. 25, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Broncos head coach Jerry Smith called his decision to move Jordan Angeli to forward from the back line an "experiment." After Angeli provided both goals in a 2-0 victory over Cal Poly Sunday afternoon to up her team-leading tally to six, most would agree that the experiment has been a smashing success.
From the opening whistle the Broncos (7-1-1) were all over the Mustangs (6-1-3), keeping much of the action in the Mustang half of the field and stone-walling any attempt by Cal Poly to sustain any kind of rhythm on the offensive side.
"I think this is the best game we've played thus far, including the Notre Dame win," Smith said afterwards. "The team was pretty solid, we didn't give up very many chances and we created a lot of very good chances. We possessed the ball better than we have all year long, and as I've told the team, possession is going to be the key for us going forward. Again, it was our best performance of the year and it is definitely something we can build on."
Angeli got the scoring started in the 23rd minute off of a nice ball from midfielder Amanda Poach. Poach lofted one into the box towards Angeli, and as Cal Poly goalkeeper Liz Hill came out too far from the goal line, Angeli sent a header right over a backtracking Hill and into the back of the net.
The defense took over the rest of the way as the Bronco back line did a superb job of keeping the Mustangs in check and disrupting any advance into the Santa Clara half of the field. Sophomore defender Danielle Potts continuously marked Sharon Day, Cal Poly's leading scorer, keeping Day from taking a single shot the whole match.
Late in the match, Santa Clara pressed again, looking for the backbreaker, and they got it in the 86th minute. In a fine display of ball-control and deft passing, Micaela Esquivel's pass to the left of the goal found Tiffany Roberts, whose cross was one-timed past Hill by Angeli to put the match on ice.
Santa Clara's Julie Ryder recorded a save to earn her third shutout of the season. The Bronco back line put the clamps on the Cal Poly attack, allowing only five shots in the match and making it a fairly easy day for Ryder. Santa Clara also took nine corner kicks to Cal Poly's one and outshot the Mustangs by a 14-5 margin.
The Broncos return to action in a rare mid-week match as they head to Spartan Stadium to take on San Jose State Wednesday night at 7 p.m. as part of Rivalry Week. Santa Clara continues the local road swing that weekend as they open up the Stanford Nike Classic against the Cardinal Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and conclude tournament action Sunday morning at 11 a.m against Oakland.
