Broncos unseeded in NCAA tournament
By Ryan Donough
The Santa Clara women's soccer team received their 19th consecutive berth to the NCAA tournament Monday, though they won't have a home playoff game for the first time in six years.
A depleted Broncos team will play California on Thursday, Nov. 15, at Stanford. Santa Clara lost 2-0 to the Bears earlier this season, their first loss of the regular season. The Broncos had eight players out due to injury.
"I'm just really excited to be in the tournament," Head Coach Jerry Smith said. "It wasn't easy this season, and I am thrilled my team overcame their obstacles to make it into the tournament."
Smith believes Cal is a tough first-round draw because their style of play matches up well against the Broncos.
"They just try to defend us first and really try to prevent us from having attacking success," Smith said.
Santa Clara has failed to defeat Cal over the past two seasons, something that Smith attributes not only to their style of play, but to the schedule of games.
"This year, we had to take a long bus ride down to Cal Poly and back and had to play Cal," Smith said, which he believes hindered the Broncos ability to succeed against a fresh Bears squad.
Last season, Santa Clara squared off against Cal two days after playing San Francisco, while the Bears were finishing up a six-game homestand.
Santa Clara was plagued with injuries this year, with season-ending injuries carrying over from last year and senior captain Jordan Angeli and junior midfielder Amanda Poach both suffering torn ACLs. Despite the injuries, Santa Clara was able to finish with a record of 12-5-3 overall, and was ranked as high as No.1 in late September.
Their ranking fell quickly after injuries to several players -- including junior midfielder Hayley Siegel, who tore her ACL at the start of the season -- slowed down the Broncos win production. Other nagging injuries continued to plague the Broncos, as they were continually forced to play with a depleted roster for the majority of the season.
The Broncos were led this year by senior midfielder Brittany Klein, who is tied for the team lead in goals with sophomore forward Kiki Bosio, and is second on the team with 15 points.
Klein has wanted to get back into the tournament since the Broncos' disappointing first-round exit after their loss to the University of Southern California last season.
"I know I have been looking forward to this since our loss against USC to prove how good a team we are," Klein said.
This year's NCAA tournament marks the first time since 2001 that Santa Clara will not be hosting their first-round matches.
Ironically, the last time Santa Clara started their postseason on the road was the year they won their first national championship.
While Santa Clara's season did not live up to expectations, Smith said that this team has more tenacity because of the injuries they have overcome.
"We have had to face a lot of adversity this season, and so I think this team has a lot of grit," Smith said.
Should Santa Clara advance to the next round, they could potentially face a No. 1-ranked Stanford squad with whom the Broncos tied earlier this season. Despite playing on Stanford's home field, the Broncos have fared well there, going 2-0-1 in their games in Palo Alto this season, including the 0-0 tie versus the Cardinal early last month.
Contact Ryan Donough at (408) 551-1918 or rdonough@scu.edu.