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Dons Battle to the End, Fall to #6 Santa Clara, 2-1
Oct. 24, 2003
The USF Dons women's soccer team continued play in the West Coast Conference Friday night, losing a hard fought battle to the #6 ranked Santa Clara Broncos at Negoesco Stadium, 2-1. Down 1-0 in the second half USF (5-11-0, 1-3-0 WCC) scored to tie the game on a goal from freshman forward Shuree Hyatt, only to have Santa Clara (10-3-4, 4-0-0 WCC) score the eventual game-winning goal at the 66:13 mark.
From the onset, the action on the field was very physical. The two teams combined for a total of 35 fouls in the game. It was evident from the start that the Dons were going to try and play physical with the Broncos defensively and make them earn whatever they could get.
Santa Clara got on the board first, getting a goal from Leslie Osbourne in the 9th minute for the only goal of the period for either team. Santa Clara out shot the Dons 13-6 in the first half.
The Dons had a great opportunity to tie the game in the 20th minute, when on a free kick, junior midfielder Annika Schmidt hit the cross bar.
In the 55th minute, Hyatt showed some superb ball-handling skills when she took the ball from midfield and streaked past a pack of defenders and sent a shot into the left corner of the goal, tying the game at 1-1. It was Hyatt's team leading eighth goal of the season. The Broncos would take the lead for the final time in the 64th minute when forward Tina Estrada headed in a pass that came off of a free kick.
USF head coach Pam Kalinoski was pleased with the way her team responded after suffering a tough loss at #5 Portland last week as the Dons played their second top-10 opponent in as many games.
"I am proud of the way this team responded to the challenges and how we bounced back after a tough loss at Portland. We had a great week of practice and made some adjustments and they paid off. Shuree Hyatt had a great goal for us and Kate Nelson did a terrific job defensively and keyed an outstanding defensive effort that seemed to frustrate Santa Clara. I though Chelsea Hunt had some great runs and applied god pressure," Kalinoski stated. "Hopefully this will give us confidence as we take on a talented San Diego squad," Kalinoski said.
The Dons will next host the San Diego Toreros on Sunday, October 26th at 1:00 PM at Negoesco Field.
