Sheila Sobchiksports information report
The No. 19 Mustang women’s soccer team (6-1-3) are looking to rebound after a less than impressive weekend. The Mustangs suffered their first loss of the season, and finished with a 1-1 tie against Washington State and lost to No. 5 Santa Clara 2-0. This droped the Mustangs all-time record against the Broncos to 0-12-3.
The Mustangs return home this weekend trying to avenge a loss from last season hosting Saint Mary’s (5-3-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. and future Big West member UC Davis (3-4-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
It was an overwhelmingly dominant performance by No. 5 Santa Clara (7-1-1) who out-shot the Mustangs 14-5. Santa Clara kept much of the action in the Mustang half of the field and stone-walled all attempts to sustain any offensive rhythm.
The Santa Clara defense suffocated Cal Poly’s two leading scorers, junior Sharon Day and senior Becky Clark, holding them to a combined one shot.
Clark is off to her best start as a Mustang tied for first on the team in goals with five. Clark has one game-winning goal this season, coming against Loyola Marymount in double-overtime at Mustang Stadium on Sept. 2. On Friday, Clark came through again, scoring the game-tying goal against Washington State. Clark has already eclipsed her total of three goals in 2004.
Meanwhile, Day leads the Mustangs in every offensive stat column. Day has five goals, three assists, 12 points, 27 shots, and three game-winning goals. Day’s game-winners came against Fresno State, San Jose State and Detroit in the Boilermaker Cup Challenge.
Day led the Mustangs with 11 goals, 23 points, 68 shots and six game-winning goals in 2004.
Saint Mary’s is coming off a successful weekend that saw the Gaels beat Air Force 3-0 on the road and tie Colorado College 0-0. The Gaels are off to a 5-3-1 start, notching victories over Big West members UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, while upsetting No. 24 Dartmouth. Saint Mary’s also gave No. 19 UC Berkeley all it could handle in its season opener, losing in double-overtime 2-1.
Saint Mary’s is led by senior Gen Hollis and freshman Nikki Schrey who lead Saint Mary’s with three goals, one assist and seven points each.
Paul Sapsford enters his third season as head coach of the Saint Mary’s women’s soccer program. Sapsford currently holds a 21-23-4 record at SMC following an 8-12 campaign in 2004 and an 8-8-3 overall record in 2003.
After following a one-year stint as the co-head coach at Stanford in 2002, Sapsford’s career record stands at 37-22-3 in three years as a head coach at the Division I level.
In 2002, as co-head coach of Stanford, Soccer America named Paul Sapsford co-Coach of the Year. Sapsford led Stanford to its fifth Pac-10 Conference Championship, finishing with a perfect 9-0 record in league play. He also guided the Cardinals to the NCAA Quarterfinals where they fell to eventual National Champion Portland on penalty kicks. Stanford finished the season 21-2, marking the best record in the program’s history.
Cal Poly holds the series edge over the Gaels 2-1-1. The two last met Sept. 7, 2004 at Saint Mary’s. The Gaels topped the Mustangs 1-0.
The Mustangs will host UC Davis at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Davis is also coming off a successful weekend that saw the Aggies tie Colorado College 1-1 and gain a 2-0 victory over Air Force.
Sophomore Megan Wall leads Davis with three goals for six points on the season, which tops the Davis roster. In 2004, Wall shared the team lead with four assists and finished second in goals (3) and in points (14). She tallied her three goals on 14 shots. Cal Poly holds a 2-0-1 series advantage over the Aggies, defeating UC Davis last season 3-2 at Aggie Field on Aug. 29 of last year.
The Mustangs open Big West Conference play at Long Beach State on Oct. 7.