Nov. 17, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Five unanswered goals in the second half, three within a three minute span, propelled the 2001 defending national champions Santa Clara (17-4-1) to a 5-1 victory over Arizona State (12-7-2) today in the second round of the NCAA Championships at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara.
As the two team's played a hard fought and very physical match which saw two players from each side having to get medical attention, each team also had early scoring chances. In the 16th minute, Santa Clara's Veronica Zepeda had her shot from close-in range hit off the top of the crossbar and redirect out where the Sun Devils cleared it. In the 22nd minute, ASU's Patrice Feulner launched her shot from about 20 yards out that hit off the upper-left 90 post, but also was redirected out.
The Devils then took the 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute. After ASU got in deep, Feulner's initial shot was blocked, but she got the rebound back and centered it to a breaking Manya Makoski who kicked it in the open net for her sixth goal of the year.
However, the match changed directions dramatically in the second half. After Makoski got kick in the side of the head and had to leave in the 55th minute, Santa Clara started their scoring in the 63rd minute when Leslie Osborne netted her shot from 10 yards out from a cross from Aly Wagner. In the 64th minute, Kristi Candau connected on a ball in front off of a scramble to score the eventual game-winner. Now with the momentum, the Broncos just kept coming. Just two minutes later, Zepeda scored off of a rebound of an ASU player to put SCU up 3-1. Candau then scored her second goal on another SCU rush with assists from Wagner and Megan Kakadelas. SCU would end the scoring onslaught in the 79th minute when Bree Horvath took a pass from Kakadelas and shot it into the lower left corner that deflected off the post and into the net.
Santa Clara out shot Arizona State 28-5 with 22 of their shots coming in the second half. ASU's Kelly Fitzgerald allowed four goals and made eight saves, several of them well done, in 73 minutes of action. Hilary Wilson replaced Fitzgerald for the final 17 minutes, allowing one goal.