Santa Clara Soccer Sits Atop WCC
Santa Clara Women defeat Saint Mary’s, clinch back-to-back WCC Championships
Santa Clara Women’s Soccer is returning to the NCAA Tournament for a seventh straight year after defeating Saint Marys 2-1 in double overtime on Nov. 7.
Clinching their second consecutive West Coast Conference (WCC) championship and earning an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, the Broncos are more fired up than ever for what the postseason could hold.
“As a senior, it feels amazing to win the WCC back to back years, and I can’t thank my team enough,” said team captain Alex Loera after Saturday’s Victory.
The Broncos had plenty of scoring chances in their Conference-clinching game, yet goals were hard to come by. Santa Clara’s first tally came from Lucy Mitchell, off a nifty cross from Kelsey Turnbow, in the 34th minute of the game.
Things intensified in the second half for the Broncos as Saint Mary’s came back and equalized the game early in the second half, thanks to a goal by Alexis Gutierrez. And after having six shots in the first half, Santa Clara would struggle to create opportunities in the second half and first overtime period. It wasn’t until the 105th minute that Alex Loera scored the game-winner off a corner from Kelsey Turnbow.
“It was awesome to score, as a center back I don’t get many chances. Having the opportunity to score in such a big game was just incredible,” added Loera, after scoring the game-winning goal.
Loera was also named WCC’s defender of the year and was named ALL-WCC.
Santa Clara finished the game with 13 shots (four on goal) to Saint Mary’s five shots (three on goal). The Broncos (11-5-2 overall, 8-1 conference record) finished as co-champions with BYU after the Cougars defeated Pepperdine 1-0. They received the WCC automatic bid due to their head-to-head win over BYU.
Santa Clara women’s soccer has now won 12 league titles in program history. Saturday’s win was also Head Coach Jerry Smith’s 519th career win, the third-most in Division 1 women’s soccer history.
On Saturday afternoon, the 12th-ranked Broncos managed to outlast 20th-ranked Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament. It was a defensive match as both teams only combined for 15 shots. The Broncos scored in the 59th minute thanks to a goal by Makoto Nezu; Kylie Foutch then came up big as she had the game-saving penalty in the 72nd minute.
12th-ranked Santa Clara faces 22th-ranked Georgetown in the second round of the NCAA College Cup at Shaw Field; the game is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. PT on Friday the 19th. Santa Clara is 2-1-1 all-time against Georgetown, with their most recent match ending in a loss during the 2016 quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
Men’s Soccer Secures WCC Championship
Santa Clara men's soccer defeated Portland 3-1 on Saturday night at Steven's Creek to win its 13th West Coast Conference championship in program history and receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Broncos got off to a quick start, scoring 24 seconds into a game off Damani Osei's one-timer. Santa Clara maintained that 1-0 lead into intermission. Tensions were high, and the competition between the top two teams in the WCC was noticeably physical, seen with 18 fouls in the first half alone.
Oladayo Thomas would add to the lead early in the second half with a penalty strike, but Portland made it interesting in the second half after being awarded a penalty kick in the 68th minute and successfully converting to cut the lead in half. Nevertheless, the Broncos would add an insurance goal five minutes later, thanks to a poked ball by Eduardo Lopez Perez.
The Broncos finished the game with 12 shots (five on goal) to Portland's 14 shots (four on goal).
Ruben Stuiver had three saves on the day and received assistance from the goal post on several shots. There were 37 fouls in the match, 20 by the Broncos and 17 by the Pilots.
Oladayo Thomas entered the game leading the WCC in goals and tallied his ninth of the year. Javier Ruiz Duran entered the match tops in the WCC in assists and recorded his ninth assist.
After ending the season with a draw against Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara (11-1-4 overall record, 5-0-2 conference record) will kick off the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday against Akron. The game will be held at FirstEnergy Stadium in Akron, Ohio, with kickoff expected to begin at 4 p.m PT.