Nov. 11, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 11 Santa Clara women's soccer team is preparing for the program's 20th NCAA Tournament appearance and will take on Michigan State this Friday at 3 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium in the first round.
The Broncos received one of the four No. 4 seeds in the tournament (sixteenth overall) and play host to No. 21 Southern California and Oklahoma State as well as the Spartans. The Women of Troy and the Cowgirls will meet at 5:30 p.m. Friday following the Santa Clara match.
The Bronco offense is averaging 1.55 goals per game (31 total goals), while the defense has earned eight shutouts. Redshirt senior Jordan Angeli (Lakewood, Colo.) is leading the team in goals with six, while junior Anessa Patton (Fresno, Calif.) has five and her classmate Maxine Goynes (Modesto, Calif.) has four. Angeli also leads the team in points (15) followed by senior Kiki Bosio (Mission Viejo, Calif.) with 12. Sophomore goalkeeper Bianca Henninger (Los Gatos, Calif.), in 15 starts, has five clean sheets to her name and carries a goals-against-average of 0.89. Reserve senior goalkeeper Lisa Lahman (Santa Cruz, Calif.) has earned three shutouts in five starts and holds a GAA of 0.82 in seven total games.
ALL-WCC
Jordan Angeli was named the West Coast Conference's Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. Several other Broncos were also honored by the conference, as freshman Allie Vernon (Homer Glen, Ill.) was named Co-Freshman of the Year with Portland's Kendall Johnson. Bosio joins Angeli on the All-WCC First Team while Vernon was joined by senior Katherine Reynolds (Medina, Wash.) on the All-WCC Second Team. Receiving honorable mention was senior Amanda Poach (Bowie, Md.), Goynes, Patton, and sophomore Jenny LaPonte (Castro Valley, Calif.). Both Vernon and freshman Lauren Matheson (Mission Viejo, Calif.) were selected to the All-WCC Freshman Team.
LAST WEEK'S WRAP UP
Santa Clara netted six goals, the most goals the Broncos have scored since a 7-1 drubbing of Notre Dame at home in 2007, on its way to victory over Gonzaga in the regular season finale. The Bulldogs dashed Santa Clara's hopes of a shutout though, scoring just before the halfway mark of the game. The Broncos had six different goal scorers in the game and freshman Meleana Shim (Honolulu, Hawaii) posted four points (one goal and two assists). Henninger had two saves in the match.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans earned the program's fourth bid into the NCAA Tournament (2002, `05, `08 and `09) and went 11-4-4 overall in 2009, finishing sixth in the Big Ten. MSU defeated Big Ten Champion and annual NCAA contender Penn State 3-2 in overtime in September and beat conference runner-up Ohio State 1-0 in their regular-season finale. The Spartans are led by sophomore Laura Heyboer, who last year made waves in the collegiate soccer world and was selected as SoccerBuzz.com's National Freshman of the Year and senior Lauren Hill. Heyboer has eight goals and five assists this season while Hill has ten goals and three assists. Sophomore Jill Flietstra, Heyboers' longtime teammate has seven shutouts, a 0.86 goals-against-average, and an 11-3-4 record.
Against common opponents with Santa Clara, Michigan State tied both UC Santa Barbara and Purdue 1-1, and lost to Wisconsin 1-0. Friday's meeting between the Broncos and the Spartans will be the first in NCAA women's soccer history.
BRONCOS GETTING NATIONAL AND CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
Santa Clara has had numerous players recognized nationally by several different media outlets this season. The Broncos have had five CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performers of the Week selections [Angeli (9/8, 9/14), Vernon (9/14), Bosio (9/22), Reynolds (9/22)], one TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week selection [Henninger (9/14)], and two WCC Players of the Week [Angeli (9/14), Bosio (9/21)]. In the polls, Santa Clara checks in at No. 11 in the NSCAA National Rankings, No. 19 on SoccerTimes.com, No. 17 on CollegeSoccer360.com, and No. 36 on TopDrawerSoccer.com's Tournament Rankings.
BRONCO NOTES
Santa Clara returned 17 letterwinners and lost four, only one of which was a starter (goalkeeper Meagan McCray) ... the Bronco freshman class of 10 players was named TopDrawerSoccer.com's best in the nation ... senior Katherine Reynolds earned a spot on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List this season.
FOLLOW SANTA CLARA ONLINE
Live video with play-by-play calling by Sam Farber for all three NCAA contests this weekend at Buck Shaw will be available on CBS College Sports Broncos All-Access channel and NCAA.com. Live stats will also be available on CBS College Sports Gametracker.
LOOKING AHEAD
The winner of the Santa Clara-Michigan State game will play the winner of the Southern California-Oklahoma State game at 4 p.m. Sunday at Buck Shaw Stadium.
