Broncos Win Pair of Thrillers

Dream season continues after two conference wins

Brent HanowerTHE SANTA CLARAOctober 15, 2014[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Santa Clara women’s soccer team  won back to back overtime thrillers last week.

They kicked off the Grand Reunion Weekend on Friday with an exhilarating 2-1 comeback double overtime win over conference foe Loyola Marymount University (8-3-1).

On Sunday, the Broncos picked up their second overtime win of the weekend, defeating Pepperdine University (6-6-2) 1-0, improving the Broncos to 9-4-0.

The Lions jumped ahead of the Broncos early, taking a 1-0 lead in the the 26th minute when the Broncos were unable to clear a ball from the penalty area. LMU’s Jocelyn Blankenship took a shot from the left corner of the box and was able to net a low ball to the far post that barely snuck past the Broncos’ keeper.

Santa Clara tied up the score in the 32nd minute, however, when Megan Crosson served up a perfect ball to Kellie Peay for a header over the keeper. The goal was Peay’s second of the season.

The game remained tied for the remainder of the first half and the entirety of the second half.

Things got rough in the 62nd minute as the Lions goalie tackled Bronco Dani Weatherholt, who later returned to the game.  Around the 78th minute, the referee missed a blatant handball call on the Lions that would have resulted in a favorable field location for the Broncos. This infuriated the Rough Rider crowd along with the team, resulting in a yellow card to the Broncos coaching staff.

After 90 minutes, the game remained tied 1-1, which added two 10 minute sudden death overtime periods. The first resulted in no goal for either team.

The game proceded into to the second half of overtime. In the final seconds as the Broncos pressured the Lions’ defense, Mariana Galvan got a rebound in the box and put it past the Lions keeper for a game winner.

“After Megan (Crosson) had the ball on the left side and took a shot, I told myself I was going to follow every ball through,” Galvan said. “The defender cleared it and it landed on my feet and I told myself to get it on goal. And then it went in.”

Crosson had five shots in the game, including one that was just inches over the crossbar and another just right of the post, but was unfortunately unable to net one. Nonetheless, Crosson was impressed by her teammates resilience.

“That win against LMU just proved to ourselves that we’re good when our back’s against the wall and we can grind,” Crosson said. “We can feel the momentum going forward now and are hungry to take every game and fight for every inch.”

Once again, the Broncos played to a lively and energetic crowd as the Grand Reunion brought thousands of fans.

“It is so unbelievable having a home field advantage with such amazing fans that come out and support us,” said sophomore Kellie Peay. “I want every student at Santa Clara to know that their support at our games means the world and seriously helps us. We thank them and appreciate them so much. Being there and cheering so loud for us played such a huge role in our win against LMU and even Stanford a couple weekends ago. We love when people come out and support athletics.”

The Broncos took on the Waves Sunday afternoon at Stevens Stadium in the scorching heat and once again the Broncos played two extra periods.

Crosson had a great opportunity to put the Broncos ahead early on in the third minute. She broke away, gaining possession in the left side of the box and attempted to sneak it past the keeper on the far post. However, the ball bounced off the bar and was eventually cleared by the Waves.

The rest of the game remained scoreless. In the 97th minute Broncos keeper Andi Tostanoski was able to save a Waves shot off a corner, keeping the game tied.

Galvan proved heroic once again in the 103rd minute, picking up her second overtime game winner of the weekend and third of the season. Hailai Arghandiwal sent the ball into the box — where Galvin received it, took a touch to gather herself and rocketed it past the Waves keeper.

For her efforts in both games, Galvan has been named WCC player of the week.

The Broncos take a break from WCC play, playing next Thursday at The University of California, Berkeley at 2 p.m. They resume WCC play Sunday, traveling to the University of Portland. The Broncos then return home on Oct. 22 to face the University of San Diego at 7 p.m.

Contact Brent Hanower at bhanower@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.