Soccer gods smile on Broncos this year

By Jason Cohn

The regular season has come to a close for women's soccer and the Santa Clara Broncos are once again ready to make an assault on the NCAA Tournament.

Soccer fans packed The Bronco on Monday afternoon to watch the live tournament selection show as Santa Clara was given a No. 2 seed, the team's best in several years.

Although the Broncos finished the season with a 14-4-2 record, second in the West Coast Conference and with a No. 5 national ranking, fans were still nervous about where Santa Clara would be seeded in the tournament because of the controversial assignment of a 16 seed last year.

"After two years of getting some really tough deals from the NCAA in the selection process, I'm happy to look at a selection process that looks like a good one for us. I'm very happy with our seed and very happy that we're hosting this weekend," head coach Jerry Smith said at a post selection show press conference on Monday.

The Broncos will kick off tournament play on Friday at Buck Shaw Stadium against Fresno State, a team the Broncos defeated 2-0 in the regular season. Santa Clara is feeling confident that they are not overlooking a strong Fresno State squad.

"They are a very hard-working team. I think they're going to come out extra strong because they don't have anything to lose and they are probably just as excited that they have another opportunity at us just like we want to have another opportunity against Stanford," junior forward Tina Estrada said.

Santa Clara will get another opportunity with Stanford in the second round if the Broncos win Friday and if Stanford beats the Saint Louis Billikens in the second game Friday.

In their first meeting, Santa Clara played Stanford without leading scorer Jordan Angeli and suffered a 1-0 loss. Angeli, who missed the game because of a red card suspension, is hoping that her team will have the chance to meet the Cardinal again.

"I'm trying not to look past our first opponent because they did give us a battle when we played them, but I want to play Stanford so bad. I really want to go out there and contribute to a win against them," Angeli said.

Angeli, a sophomore playing as a forward for the first time this season, led the team in goals with 10 and also dished out four assists. Yet Angeli says that being the team's leading scorer has not resulted in any anxiety on the field.

"We obviously have other people on the field who can score. Tina Estrada has been getting a lot of goals so I don't feel any added pressure. I just want to contribute to a win in whatever way I can, whether it's scoring, assisting or making a run that opens up Tina to score," Angeli said.

As important as the offense is, Santa Clara's success this season has been rooted in a strong and consistent defense.

Santa Clara has allowed just 12 goals in 20 games played this season with 11 shutouts; yet starting goalkeeper Julie Ryder, who has an .809 save percentage, is not ready to take all the credit.

"Our back line, we really work as a unit. When we do get shutouts, it really is a team effort because a lot of my position is telling the defense where to go and how to prevent chances from actually occurring. So I think we really work well as a team back there," Ryder said.

Smith has also been impressed with the back line's performance.

"One of the big differences between this year and last year is that we're a very solid defensive team this year and that always gives a coach confidence going into the NCAA Tournament. No matter what sport it is, you have to be a solid defensive team to go far."

If anyone knows what it takes to succeed in the tournament, it's Smith, who has led Santa Clara to the NCAA Tournament for the 17th consecutive year. He is the only coach in the country to lead their team to 10 consecutive quarterfinal appearances and his career winning percentage of .783 is the fourth highest in NCAA history.

"This team's a lot like the 2001 team that we had, which won the national championship, to be honest with you," said Smith. "Nothing's come easy for this team. In 2001, we had a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries and we played no game in the NCAA Tournament that was comfortable for us. So this team is, by virtue of a tough schedule and by the character of the team, gritty. We're anxious to prove our grittiness in the NCAA Tournament. And that's what it takes."

Contact Jason Cohn at (408) 551-1918 or jrcohnstead@hotmail.com.