After a Cinderella campaign finished with an NCAA championship, reality hit the defending Santa Clara Broncos this season.
Santa Clara (4-4-2, 1-0), which started the season as the second-ranked team in the county, fell out of the top 25 after the University of San Francisco upset them 2-0.
Putting the ball into the back of the net has been the Broncos’ problem all season. Santa Clara outshot USF 22-8 but had nothing to show for their offensive output. They gave up goals to USF’s Jamesen Ward in the 56th minute and her teammate Marissa Vasquez finished the game off in the 71st minute.
Looking to turn around their season entering league play, Santa Clara started WCC play with a convincing victory over UC San Diego at home. The team fired 33 shots, 13 on target, in the match. Sally Menti opened the scoring in the 27th minute for the Broncos, and Kelsey Turnbow finished the game off in the 57th minute.
“It’s so important to win the conference opener. Today started a new season for us,” said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith after the match. “The only thing that didn’t go well for us today was our finishing. With thirty-three shots, you hope to get more than certainly two goals.”
Next up for the Broncos is Pacific on Wednesday at 7 pm.
USF comes back to earth as Saint Mary’s stays hot
The University of San Francisco Dons (4-4-2, 0-1-0) claimed an impressive win over the defending champions Santa Clara 2-0 but fell to the upstart Saint Mary’s Gales (7-1-2, 1-0-0) over the weekend.
Saint Mary’s scored two goals in the second half from AnnaMaria DiGeronimo and Emily Jensen to claim the win in both team’s league opener.
The Gales took seventeen shots, nine on goal, while only allowing USF 3 shots all game.
On Wednesday, Saint Mary’s will face a stern test against 22nd ranked BYU, while USF will look to rebound against Loyola Marymount.
Stanford and Cal start Pac-12 play
Seventh-ranked Stanford (8-3-0, 2-1-0) started off league play with a 3-0 victory with goals from Samantha Williams, Jojo Harber, and Maya Doms on Sept. 24.
Despite outshooting Oregon State 24-5, Stanford dropped their next game, 2-1. Oregon State scored just before the half and doubled their lead in the 75th minute. The Cardinal’s Sierra Enge pulled the home side back within a goal a minute later, but they could not find the tying score.
Stanford rebounded against Oregon on Sunday. Naomi Girma scored at the start of the second half, and Maya Doms added another in the 65th minute. Her seventh goal of the season ended up being the winning strike after the Ducks’ Ally Cook pulled one back in the 75th minute.
The Cardinals now hit the road to face off against Washington and Washington State this weekend.
Cal (5-2-3, 1-1-1) started off league play with a 2-2 draw with Colorado before losing 2-0 to Oregon. The Bears rebounded by defeating Oregon State 2-1 in Berkeley on Sunday.
Natalie Hueston scored for Cal in the first half, but they gave up a tying goal to Oregon State’s Brianna McReynolds minutes later.
Cal pressed throughout the second half for the winner, and in the 82nd-minute freshman Marleen Rohde finished a shot after a scramble off a corner kick to lead the Bears the victory.
“It was a bit of a scramble in the box, but Marleen is very technical as a player,” said Cal head coach Neil McGuire. “She was able to maintain composure, and she finished it well. The Pac-12 is always going to have tight matches, and it’s always going to come down to the last five minutes because teams are so good.”
The Bears also head up to Washington State this weekend for two league games.
San Jose State split games
San Jose State (5-7-0, 2-2-0) faced some difficult games on the road to start league play. On Sept. 24, they lost a double-overtime game against Air Force 3-2. Two days later, they rebounded with a 2-0 win over Colorado College.
Last weekend at home, Jordan Rowell scored the only goal against Wyoming to earn a 1-0 win. On Sunday, the Spartans could not ride a first-half goal from Taylor Phillips to victory after conceding two goals to Colorado State in the last seven minutes to fall 2-1.
San Jose heads on the road once again to play Boise State and Utah State this weekend.