Fall Quarter Sports Update
A look at the ups and downs for the Broncos after four competitive weeksJay MehtaThe Santa ClaraOctober 12, 2017Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team has been playing consistently well, especially in the West Coast Conference, following a 2-1 victory at Gonzaga on Sunday. This boosts Santa Clara’s all-time record against Gonzaga to 21-1-2. The Broncos made eight shot attempts with five of those being on goal. However, the key player in this game was the goalkeeper, Melissa Lowder ( junior), who had four saves. This season, 23 of the 28 goals scored have come from younger players, with 13 from first-years. “We’re very pleased to go on the road and get two wins this weekend,” Head Coach Jerry Smith said. “I’m proud of the gritty mentality we showed, especially [Sunday]. Scoring six goals on the trip is a sign that our attacking is really starting to gel, which is a good sign. We’re looking to build on this momentum heading into next week and continue to get better in all facets of our game.” The women’s team now holds a record of 8-6-1. Men’s Golf
The men’s golf team has shown improvement with rounds of 274 in the first day of the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. The team ended the day in third place with 20-under 548, nine shots behind the top scoring team, University of California, Berkeley. “I can’t complain about being in third place in a field like this,” Coach Rob Miller said. “This is Cal’s home course, so I’m not surprised to be nine-strokes behind them. They will be tough to beat.” The older players had a great day with three top-ten positions. Hayden Shieh (senior) tied for third place at 10-under 132. Meanwhile, Derek Ackerman ( junior) and Matt McCarty (sophomore) tied for ninth place with six-under 136. The first-years on the team didn’t play as well—two of them tied for 46th and one player came in 57th. The men’s team is looking forward to their next invitational, “The Stockton Pacific Invitational,” on Thursday, Oct. 26 Volleyball
The season is starting to improve for the women’s volleyball team as they secured their first victory of the season in the West Coast Conference. The game against the University of San Francisco was a sweep with the final scorecard reading 25-18, 25-21, 25-20. Head Coach Jon Wallace was happy with the performance. “It feels good to get a win,” he said. “The girls have been working so hard for this and we’ve come so close. I’m really happy for them, and hopefully it gives us some momentum and confidence going forward. I hope we can ride this into next week.” The women are 8-10 so far this season. They are looking to take down Loyola Maramount University in their next season game on Thursday, Oct. 12 in Los Angeles. Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer team also won their first game in the West Coast Conference with a 3-1 victory against the University of San Francisco on Sunday. The game started rough with an early goal by San Francisco, but Santa Clara bounced back with three consecutive goals to end the game 3-1. Santa Clara’s all-time record versus San Francisco is now 26-35-10. As stated, the win against San Francisco was the first for the men’s soccer team this season and another win does not seem to be in sight as they take on the University of the Pacific next week. Overall, men’s soccer now has a record of 1-9.Contact Jay Mehta at jmehta@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.