[STANFORD-SANTA CLARA] Courtney Verloo scored two second-half goals in the rain and No. 1 Stanford (19-1-0) withstood a late rally to beat neighbor Santa Clara, 2-1, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
 
Verloo scored in the 51st and 60th minutes, the first after Chioma Ubogagu cut the ball back from the end line into her path, and the next on a solo run and blast into the upper corner. The goals were her team-leading ninth and 10th of the season.

But the Broncos did not fold, and they cut the deficit in half when Dani Weatherholt scored on an assist from Lauren Matheson in the 77th minute.

Santa Clara had fallen to the Cardinal, 6-1, in their season opener, but this game was even.  Stanford finished with a 14-13 edge in shots.

“What I’m really proud of today is the girls followed our game plan and that produced a dead even game,” said Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith. “Any time you can play the defending national champions and No. 1 team dead even you’ve done well. We had them on their heels there late and had a couple chances to score near the end. Credit to them but I’m very, very proud of our effort out here today.”
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