In front of 3,000 fans on hand for the dedication of Stevens Stadium, Santa Clara knocked off No. 8 Stanford, 1-0, Sunday night for its first win over the Cardinal in nine years.
“It takes a lot ofdiscipline to stick to your game plan when you’re tired and facing a great team,” said Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith said. “A team like Stanford waits forone wrong decision and capitalizes on it. We made one wrong decision that led to a penalty kick for them but Andi made a great save. We got our chance shortly after that. Megan Crosson put in a greatball on a corner and it went in. It was a great team effort out there today and it gives us the confidence that we can make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.”
In the 85th minute, Crossonwhipped an in-swinging, left-footed corner that landed in the box, causing confusion and eventually ending up in the goal to give Santa Clara a late 1-0 lead.
“It was ahard-fought game,” said Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe. “When we missed the penalty kick, the momentum changed to Santa Clara and they did agood job and got the result off the corner kick.”
The win puts the Broncos at 6-3-0 on the season while the Cardinal is 6-2-0.