Women's soccer clinches WCC title
By Josh Griffin
The Santa Clara women's soccer team rebounded from last weekend's disappointing loss at Pepperdine by sweeping their final weekend of conference play against No. 4 Portland and No. 18 San Diego.
With the two victories, the Broncos clinched their fourth West Coast Conference title, and improved their record to 15-2 overall, and 6-1 in conference.
Santa Clara opened the weekend on Friday in front of 1,423 fans at Buck Shaw Stadium with a 2-1 defeat against Portland, who have thrived this season behind solid defense and goaltending.
The Broncos opened the scoring in the game's tenth minute when freshman midfielder Jessica Ballweg scored off a cross from sophomore midfielder Veronica Zepeda. Junior midfielder and National Player of the Year Candidate Aly Wagner initiated the play, earning her 15th assist on the season.
"Aly's made the final fifteen in voting for player of the year, but so has senior defender Danielle Slaton, they both bring a lot to the field, Aly more on offense, Danielle on the defensive side, there both terrific players and are among the very besy in the country," Head Coach Jerry Smith said.
Portland countered at the fourty-minute mark in the first half, when Lisa Casagrande scored off a deflection, beating her defender and freshman goalie Alyssa Sobolik. The Broncos scored the decisive goal in the 58th minute, when Zepeda scored her eighth goal on the season, as well as her fifth game winner, off a cross in the box from freshman forward Leslie Osborne. Santa Clara finished the game doubling Portland's shot total, 14-7.
On Sunday afternoon, the Broncos clinched their fourth WCC championship by defeating San Diego 2-0. The match marked the tenth shutout that Santa Clara has registered on the season.
The game-winning goal came midway through the first half, when sophomore defender Chardonnay Poole scored on a header off a Wagner corner kick. Poole had just entered the game to replace Osbourne who suffered a leg injury. Osborne is training with the team and isn't expected to miss any games.
The Broncos then capped the scoring when sophomore forward Kristy Candau scored yet another goal assisted by Wagner. Her two assists on the day bring her NCAA-leading season total to 17.
Santa Clara outshot San Diego 12-3 in the match, and did not allow a shot on goal after the early portion of the first half. Sobolik was credited with her sixth shutout of the season, with just one save for the day.
The Broncos close out their regular season schedule when they host Colorado College on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. This match will be the teams last tune up before beginning paly in the NCAA tournament. Prior to the game, the team will recognize their five seniors: Kerry Cathcart, Ynez Carrasco, Anna Kraus, Katie Sheppard and Danielle Slaton.