SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Thirteenth rankedSanta Clara women's soccer (8-1-5; 1-0-1 WCC) played to a scoreless tie with West Coast Conference-newcomer Brigham Young (7-4-3; 1-1-1 WCC). The Broncos dominated the game, outshooting BYU 19-9. Of those 19 shots, however,Santa Clara only had four shots on goal.

"We just couldn't buy a goal tonight. We hit the post and had point blank shots that we hit off target. In the end, if I had to sum it up I would say it was finishing. I think we rushed our finishing," saidSanta Clarahead coach Jerry Smith. "I think of all the games we've had against BYU this was our most dominant performance and yet it's the only blemish on our record against them. However, I was very proud of the team tonight. I thought they played very well and very hard. I think we are continuing to make strides in our performance and I think we can take positives away from that."

Santa Clarahad a terrific scoring chance in the 29th minute when Meleana Shim played a ball to Julie Johnston who took a touch and fired it from inside the box. The shot went wide and the scored remained 0-0.

Less than a minute later Sofia Huerta had a chance to extend her hot streak of goal scoring when she took a ball fromJohnstonin the middle of the box but her shot also sailed wide.

Huerta had one more good chance with under one minute left in the half. Olivia Klei cleared the ball and Huerta dribbled past several defenders before shooting the ball just wide right. The half ended with the score 0-0.

Right out of the gate in the second half the Broncos put pressure on BYU. Huerta showed some fancy footwork when she dribbled around a defender to get to the end line and center the ball toJohnston.Johnstongot her foot on the ball but was unable to get much on the shot and McKinzie Olson made the save for the Cougars.

Margueritte Aozasa had a chance of her own in the 57th minute when she took a shot from a few yards inside the top of the box but the Cougar goalkeeper made a terrific save and knocked the ball off the crossbar.

Johnstontook a ball and dribbled through to the box where she went one-on-one with the goalkeeper but her shot hit the post and the game stayed 0-0.

BYU had a golden opportunity when Kyleigh Royall laid out for a header that Bianca Henninger had to dive to save. The ball got away from Henninger but the Broncos were able to clear it to keep the game scoreless.

The game went into overtime with the score still 0-0. The first scoring opportunity came when BYU had a penalty kick from 10 yards outside the box. The ensuing shot flew high and the overtime period ended with the game still scoreless.

In the second overtime period the Broncos had a chance when Lauren Matheson took a pass in the box but she couldn't square up the shot and it went weakly wide left. The game ended with the score 0-0.

Santa Claraplays next on Sun., Oct. 16 againstSan Franciscoat 1 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium. The home game will be the last for the Broncos until Senior Day on Fri., Oct. 28 vs. Pepperdine at 5 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with men's soccer.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Favorite Picks of the 2025 MLS Draft

Commitments: Bradley Heads to the Big East

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Girls