The 2019 and 2020 NCAA Women’s soccer champions are facing off in the postseason.
On Tuesday the NCAA announced the postseason matchups which included the defending national champion Santa Clara Broncos hosting the Stanford Cardinals, the champions in 2019, in a first-round matchup.
“It’s really nice to get a home game,” said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith. “A tough matchup for Santa Clara and Stanford. These are the last two national champions playing each other in the opening round, but neither one of us were able to secure a seed (the top sixteen teams to make the tournament) so because of geography we got each other.”
Santa Clara playing well heading into playoffs
Santa Clara (11-5-2, 8-1 WCC) rebounded from a tough start of the season where they tested themselves with one of the most difficult out-of-conference schedules for any women’s college soccer team. They rebounded in West Coast Conference play to win eight of their last nine games, including beating the WCC’s other elite squad, BYU.
The offense has not been a problem for the Broncos. The team outscored its opponents 33-16 with a 161-71 advantage of shots on target. Santa Clara has once again relied on its dynamic duo of Kelsey Turnbow (nine goals and nine assists), Izzy D’Aquila (five goals), and Alex Loria added seven assists.
Stanford looking to build off of strong season
Stanford (13-5-1, 7-3-1 Pac-12) finished fourth in an incredibly tough Pac-12 conference. Maya Dom has led the Cardinal attack this year with eleven goals and three assists. As a team Stanford scored 46 goals while conceding only 16.
The two Bay Area sides faced off earlier this season with Stanford claiming the 3-1 victory. Their NCAA first-round playoff game is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 pm at Stevens Stadium.
“It’s a game that going to be really exciting and fans are going to have a real treat,” Smith added.
Santa Clara’s stadium will also be the host of this year’s College Cup, where the final four teams face off the weekend of December 3-5.
The winner of the Santa Clara vs. Stanford game will play the winner of the Georgetown vs. Central Ct. State game.
Bay Area NCAA Women soccer regular season concludes
Several other Division 1 soccer programs completed their regular seasons last weekend.
- Saint Mary’s (10-4-4, 4-3-2 WCC) finished a successful season just missing out on the tournament and upseting Santa Clara. They took the Broncos to double overtime before Alex Loera scored in the 105th minute. The Gales had their first ten win season since 2011 and junior Suzuna Shibukawa ended with eight goals to lead the team.
- University of San Francisco (7-9-2, 3-6-0 WCC) finished their season with a 3-0 victory over San Diego. Goalkeeper Molly Eby recoreded seven shoutouts this year and Marissa Vasquez led the Dons in scoring with four goals.
- UC Berkeley (8-7-3, 4-6-1 Pac-12) finished their year with a loss to their rivals, Stanford, 3-1. Karlie Lema led Cal with six goals for the season. However the team finished only scoring 18 goals in 18 games but only conceeded 17 goals.
