A year ago in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Santa Clara junior Ellie Rice was on her knees in tears after missing the penalty kick that swiftly killed the Broncos’ season.
The entire Cal women’s soccer team celebrated the 4-3 victory in penalties around her, hugging and cheering.
Penalty kicks have this decisive nature. One kick is all it takes to send one team into a frenzied celebration and the other into absolute shock and sadness.
No. 17 Santa Clara was on the painful side of penalty kicks, but this Thursday offers a chance at revenge. The Broncos (0-1) travel to Edwards Stadium for their 4 p.m. match against the Bears, a contest that will feature strong midfields battling each other tooth and nail.
Cal (2-0) is coming off a strong first two weeks of the season after a 3-0 victory in its season opener against Pacific and a 5-2 win over San Jose State.
In these matches, senior midfielder Betsy Hassett scored two goals and continued her high-level play after her appearance at the Olympics with New Zealand. Sophomore forward Grace Leer, who had two career goals before last week, exploded for a hat trick against San Jose State.
Leer earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for her goals, making a good case for a starting role at forward.
“I am just grateful to be a part of such a dynamic team and am excited to have made an impact with the goals I did score,” Leer told CalBears.com. “Opening the season with such a great start is just what we need as a team.”
Cal took care of business against teams it was expected to beat, but now the tune-up games are over. The Bears can expect the competition to pick up rapidly, beginning with the Broncos.
Santa Clara is the preseason favorite in the coaches’ poll to win the West Coast Conference. However, the squad is currently missing its premier talent going into Berkeley.
The top two scorers for the Broncos last year — junior Julie Johnston and sophomore Sofia Huerta — are both competing at the U-20 World Cup and are unavailable for Thursday’s game.
Santa Clara is coming off a loss at the hands of No. 1 Stanford. The Broncos scored in the 13th minute, but six straight Cardinal goals quickly squashed any Santa Clara hopes.
Senior Meleana Shim and junior Ellie Rice, both midfielders and members of the preseason ALL-WCC Team, will be tasked with leading the Broncos following the rough start.
The Bears can counter the strong midfield presence of Santa Clara with their own. Along with Hassett, sophomore Taylor Comeau and junior Kaitlyn Fitzpatrick will be battling their Bronco counterparts for control of the midfield.
The midfield battle is the key to the match and may put more pressure on other players on the field to step up, such as Leer at the forward position.
Cal’s road to repeat its best year under coach Neil McGuire has started well. But now, the difficult part begins against a team itching for revenge.
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