Bronco Briefs: Men's soccer keeps postseason hopes alive

By Brian Betz

Men's Soccer

Santa Clara 1, Sac. St. 0

The men's soccer team kept their hopes for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament alive with last Thursday's 1-0 win at Sacramento St. The win marked their fourth straight shutout with sophomore Kent Harkness in goal, who has been playing in replace of fellow sophomore Steve Cronin.

Against vicious winds, freshman midfielder Jeff Scott recorded his first collegiate goal in the 40th minute, which proved to be the game-winner. The Broncos took 13 shots around the front of the goal, which forced Sacramento St.'s goalkeeper to work all afternoon.

Santa Clara 4, San Francisco 1

Santa Clara kept its postseason hopes alive with a victory over Bay area foe San Francisco. The team was led by senior forward Jamil Walker, who added to his team leading points total with two goals and one assist on the evening.

Walker scored the first two goals of the match, and sophomore forward Jeff Scott pitched in with the third goal off a Walker assist. In the second half, freshman midfielder Devan Skrade scored the final goal to secure the 4-1 victory. With a win on Saturday against Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara can keep their hopes of an at-large NCAA Tournament bid alive.

Women's Soccer

Santa Clara 6, Gonzaga 0

This past Saturday told the story for who would win this year's WCC title - and it did not end with just one champion. In the midst of senior night at Buck Shaw Stadium, it was sophomore forward Leslie Osborne who stole the spotlight with two goals and two assists to lead the Broncos to a 6-0 win over Gonzaga.

The Broncos went into the half with just one goal that came from junior forward Veronica Zepeda, and opened up the game in the second when Zepeda netted her second at the 55 minute mark. Three Santa Clara goalkeepers combined for the shutout.

The Broncos, 15-4-1 on the season and 6-1 in the WCC, had to split the WCC title with Pepperdine, who had defeated USF 2-1 earlier in the day. Next up for Santa Clara is a date with Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Women's Volleyball

Santa Clara 3, Portland 0

The No. 11 Broncos fought off a slow start to take the first game 30-28 before sweeping the Pilots 3-0 in the match. Game two's devastating 30-11 win was powered behind a .667 hitting percentage and a 13-4 lead early in the period.

The third game also went to Santa Clara by a 30-23 score. Junior middle blocker Becky Potter's match-high 18 kills led the Broncos, while freshman outside hitter Cassie Perret added 11 kills and junior setter Kelli Sousa added 37 assists.

Santa Clara 3, Gonzaga 0

The women carried Friday night's momentum into senior night against Gonzaga, where they again swept their opponent 3-0. Seniors outside hitter Amy Grabill, libero Chrissy Hirsch and defensive specialist Cindy Hirsch were all honored before the game, prior to the Broncos' 30-23, 30-27 and 30-14 wins.

Potter, for the second straight evening, recorded a match-high in kills, with 15, while Perret chipped in 14. Now 22-3 overall and 10-1 in the WCC, the Broncos look toward this coming weekend where they travel south for two big matches against Pepperdine and LMU.

Softball

2-1 record in fall scrimmage

With a group of new faces, the softball team got outputs from multiple freshmen in their wins against Stanford and Sacramento St. this past weekend. Freshman Liz Courter threw the entire outing of a rain-shortened 4-0 win over the Cardinals, as senior Tracie Hall accounted for two RBIs while freshman Jessica Clee hit a two-run homer.

In a close 6-5 win over Sacramento St., sophomore pitcher Kelly Johnson recorded the win while Clee went 2-for-3 from the dish.

Senior Coresta Salas and Clee registered the only two hits in the team's 7-0 loss to Stanford earlier that day. Sophomore Jennifer Ponzo took the loss for the Broncos.

The team is now out of action until Jan. 31, when they open their spring season against UC-Santa Barbara at the UCSB Tournament.

Men's Water Polo

USC 16, Santa Clara 4

Junior utility Logan Gee, sophomore driver Mark Oda and freshmen two meter Whit Gilfillan and driver Austin Brizgys were the only Broncos to score in Saturday's contest against USC, as the team was defeated by a score of 16-4. Amidst the rain at the San Jose University Aquatics Center, sophomore Peter Moore recorded 11 saves in goal.

UC-Davis 12, Santa Clara 5

Nine different Aggies scored en route to UC Davis' seven-goal win over the 10-24 Broncos. Santa Clara played most of the match without Gilfillan, who injured his hand in the first quarter. Five different Broncos scored in the loss, and the squad will have a chance at redemption this coming weekend when the two teams square off again.