Oct. 9, 2009

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The No. 15 Santa Clara women's soccer team opens West Coast Conference play this Sunday, taking on San Diego at Torero Stadium at 1 p.m.

Prior to the season, the WCC coaches poll picked the Broncos to finish third in the conference behind No. 4 Portland and San Diego, who recently lost their top-25 ranking. Santa Clara is eager for a win having gone 1-2-1 over the last two weeks, and must get a victory over the Toreros to help boost their chances for a conference championship.

The Broncos are averaging 1.54 goals-per-game and 14.5 shots per game. Redshirt senior Jordan Angeli (Lakewood, Colo.) is leading the team in goals with four, while five others have found the net at least twice and four others have registered one goal each. Angeli also leads the team in points (10), followed by junior Maxine Goynes (Modesto, Calif.) with nine, and senior Kiki Bosio (Mission Viejo, Calif.) with eight. Sophomore goalkeeper Bianca Henninger (Los Gatos, Calif.) has started all 13 contests, keeping five clean sheets and carrying a goals-against-average of 0.98.

LAST WEEK'S WRAP UP
Santa Clara fell at the hands of unanimous No. 1 Stanford, 6-2, on Thursday, Oct. 1, and earned a tie against No. 14 California on Sunday to finish the non-conference schedule. The Broncos scored first on the Cardinal, but went down 2-1 by halftime and ultimately surrendered four more goals in the second stanza. Santa Clara converted its second penalty kick attempt of the year to make the final score 6-2. Against Cal, the Broncos had to play catch up, scoring in the 72nd minute to tie it one-all. Kiki Bosio hit the cross bar in the first overtime, and Bianca Henninger saved Alex Morgan's penalty kick attempt in the second overtime to keep things all squared, which is how it ended.

SCOUTING SAN DIEGO
The Toreros enter the game with a record of 6-4-2 and have suffered a few losses they might want back, falling 2-1 to Cal State Bakersfield, 3-0 to Ohio State, and 5-0 to Kansas. Against common opponents with the Broncos, San Diego has fallen 4-0 to USC and defeated Cal State Fullerton 2-0. The best result on their schedule is a 1-1 tie with UCLA. The Toreros are led by freshman Erica Peeples three goals and four other players have two goals each. In the net, sophomore Courtney Parsons has started all 12 games, has five shutouts, and carries a GAA of 1.29.

BRONCOS GETTING NATIONAL AND CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
Santa Clara has had numerous players recognized nationally by several different media outlets this season. The Broncos have had five CollegeSoccer360.com Primetime Performers of the Week selections [Angeli (9/8, 9/14), Vernon (9/14), Bosio (9/22), Reynolds (9/22)], one TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week selection [Henninger (9/14)], and two WCC Players of the Week [Angeli (9/14), Bosio (9/21)]. In the polls, Santa Clara checks in at No. 15 in the NSCAA National Rankings, No. 15 on SoccerTimes.comNo. 20 in Soccer America, and No. 39 on TopDrawerSoccer.com's tournament rankings.

BRONCO NOTES
Santa Clara returned 17 letterwinners and lost four, only one of which was a starter (goalkeeper Meagan McCray) ... the Bronco freshman class of 10 players was named TopDrawerSoccer.com's best in the nation ... senior Katherine Reynolds is on the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy Watch List.

FOLLOW THE BRONCOS ONLINE
Live stats from this weekend's match will be available on CBS College Sports' GameTracker.

LOOKING AHEAD
Santa Clara returns to the Bay Area next weekend, but remains on the road, taking on San Francisco and Saint Mary's.

	SantaClaraBroncos.com
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