April 20, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University women's water polo team closed out the regular season with a convincing 14-3 win over CSU Hayward on senior day for driver Sara Schmitt Saturday at the Leavey Center Pool.
The Broncos improved to 20-13 on the season heading into the Western Water Polo Association championship April 26-28 at UC Santa Cruz. Pairings and game times are scheduled to be announced by mid-week.
"We really setup our game plan today to work on some things that we needed to refine a bit before we get into the WWPA championships," said Santa Clara Head Coach Steve Hanson. "We were able to do the things we wanted today, such as working on counter-attacking and pushing it forward.
"We slowed it down some in the third quarter and worked on drawing ejections and finishing, which was something we had worked on all week in practice. This was a great ending to the regular-season and gives us the momentum we need for postseason. We have played a varied schedule, especially recently, that really gives us the confidence to know that we can play with nearly any level of opponent. That will be a key for WWPAs."
Schmitt led all scorers with three goals, including two in the fourth quarter. The Beaverton, Ore. native also added an assist in her final home game as a Bronco.
"Sara has always been a really important part of our team," said Hanson. "As she goes, generally so goes our team. She has had a super year and we are really going to miss her. It was great to see her have one of her best performances of the year on senior day."
Juniors Carly Carpenter, Elizabeth Glotzbach and freshmen Katy Shumm and Kristin Goltz each added two goals in the match. Amanda Ginn, Kelly Rauenbuehler, Becky Hong also each scored a single goal for Santa Clara. CSU Hayward's three goals were scored by Jenny Hoerner, Farrah Kuricel and Dides Urrutia.
Shumm scored Santa Clara's first two goals within the initial 2:38 of the match, giving the Broncos a 2-1 lead. Her second goal put the Broncos up 2-1 and started a 8-0 run over the next 11:22 to give the Broncos a 9-1 lead at halftime. Goltz's two goals came in the second period within :32 seconds of each other, the first coming at the 5:40 mark with the other find the back of the net with 5:08 left on the clock.
After going to halftime with a 9-1 lead, The Broncos then slowed the game down in the second half. CSU Hayward stuck first with Urrutia scoring at the 6:24 mark of the third quarter. Hong scored SCU's lone third-quarter goal at the 5:56 mark before the Broncos outscored Hayward by a 4-1 margin to close out the match.
