Check out photos from the match! (Credit Denis Concordel)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Opening an eight-game home stand, Santa Clara women's soccer beat No. 16 Maryland by a final of 1-0. With the win the Broncos move to 3-2-0 while the Terrapins are now 4-1-0.
Santa Clara will return to the field Thurs., Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. vs. Iowa State.
"I thought we had a solid performance today," said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. "I wouldn't say it was great but it's tough to have great games against top-20 teams. I'm really happy that we had the better chances in the game and we created more chances than them. They're a very good team that's scored a lot of goals and to shut them out was very good. One of the keys for us was keeping the ball. Against powerful offensive teams if you can keep the ball, it limits their offense. Having said that, Hayley Brock was a handful. She had over half their shots and caused us all kinds of problems but we'll take a win against a top-20, undefeated team."
The Broncos outshot the Terrapins 15-7 and 5-0 in shots on goal. Maryland had been averaging 4.5 goals per game and was shutout for the first time this season. Sofia Huerta scored the lone goal of the game while attempting two shots. Julie Johnston led all players with six shots and four on goal. Hayley Brock led Maryland with four shots.
Santa Clara scored first in the 13th minute on a spectacular goal by Huerta. Huerta took a ball on the right side of the field and put on a nice move to slice through two Maryland defenders and into the box. She juked a third defender and blasted a perfectly placed shot past the goalkeeper to give the Broncos the 1-0 lead.
The Broncos had another dangerous chance in the 42nd minute off of a corner kick. Sarah Jackson sent the ball into the box and Alyson Birgel put a head on the ball but it went wide and the half ended with the score 1-0.
Santa Clara outshot Maryland 11-3 in the first half and 4-0 in shots on goal. The Broncos also picked up three corners to Maryland's two. Johnston led the way with three shots, all on goal, while Morgan Marlborough and Sofia Huerta each had two shots.
Johnston made a steal near midfield in the 47th minute and went down the field before passing to Marlborough. Marlborough fired a low shot on the ground but Rachelle Beanlands made the save.
The Broncos had another dangerous chance when a ball was sent in to Johnston in the box but her attempted to one-time it went over the crossbar.
Maryland attempted to apply offensive pressure as the clock began winding down in the second half but was unable to get a dangerous chance and the Broncos took the 1-0 win.
Game Notes: Attendance was 812 … It was the first road game of the year for Maryland … Maryland was issued three yellow cards.
