Statistics do not always mean another mark in the win column. The Cal women’s soccer team learned this lesson the hard way on Thursday in a 1-0 loss against No. 17 Santa Clara.
Cal (2-1) had 16 shots on goal, Santa Clara, three. Cal had seven corners, Santa Clara, one. The stats say a lot about the nature of the game, yet Cal’s dominance extends beyond the numbers. The game remained in the Bronco half for most of the game and the Cal players continued to excite the fans with opportunities.
However, all instances would eventually prove futile.
“If you look at the scoreboard, we lost the game,” coach Neil McGuire. “If you look at every other statistic we were dominant.”
Despite playing from a defensive shell for most of the game, Santa Clara (1-1) seemed in its element. Missing some of their top scorers from last year, the Broncos decided to crowd their defensive end, eliminating open space for the strong Cal midfield to operate.
“Many teams will sit very close to their goal and put numbers around the box,” McGuire said. “The chances we get are in tight space. When you play a team who sits back, its very hard to break down.”
Cal senior midfielder Betsy Hassett had to work every second of her 90 minutes of playing time, mustering four shots which all failed to test the Santa Clara keeper.
While Cal tried to punch through the Bronco wall, a quick and unexpected counter attack was all it took to put Santa Clara up 1-0 in the 30th minute.
As the ball bounced around in the Bears’ box, Bronco junior Sarah Jackson gratefully claimed it, dribbled past an oncoming defender and sneaked the ball into the low left corner past Cal keeper Emily Kruger.
Playing from behind, Cal worked harder to find the back of the Santa Clara net — but to no avail.
Coming off her hat trick on Sunday, sophomore forward Grace Leer played the most out of any Cal forward but could not get any significant shots off.
With no one forward standing out, McGuire subbed in multiple forwards and even brought up junior center back Emi Lawson instead of sticking with one player to get that elusive goal. This strategy — McGuire’s go-to play — didn’t pan out for the Bears.
“As the season goes on, if forward by committee is working then it will stay that way,” McGuire said. “We have a talented squad so we want to give everyone an opportunity to keep everyone fresh.”
Yet fresh legs were not the answer as the the Broncos continued to foil every Cal attempt. Frustration began to build for the Bears, manifesting itself in yellow cards and shouts at the referee.
When the final whistle blew, Santa Clara had held on, and all the Bears could do was hide their dissatisfaction and look ahead to Missouri.
“Everyone is upset,” McGuire said. “They lost a game they knew they should have won. We have to continue to mature as a team so we can beat teams that we have more opportunities on.”
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