Santa Clara Broncos 2005 (R)

[ussoccr]

Time to start looking ahead to August. Anyone out there have any thoughts on the coming season, key players, etc.

I'll start off with the schedule. While the schedule has not been officially announced, here's some highlights from what a little bird has told me:

Open the season at home on August 26 against Arizona State. August 28th looks to be a home game with an opponent still TBA.
Labor Day weekend in North Carolina. Not Chapel Hill, but rather Winston-Salem at the Wake Forest Tournament. Friday vs. Va Tech and Sunday vs. Wake Forest.
Next weekend is the SCU Adidas Classic. Much earlier than usual - rumored to be due to an accomodation made to Notre Dame to secure their participation. So circle the calendar - Sunday, Sept. 11 SCU vs. Notre Dame! Cal State Fullerton is the third team mentioned. Not sure on the 4th team, but Stanford is NOT included this year. Again rumor is that the forementioned shift from the normal dates (to secure the Irish) conflicts with Stanford's schedule. SCU will play the Cardinal on Sept. 30 as part of Stanford's tournament.
Completing a glorious week of soccer at the Shaw will be a Sept. 16 game against UCLA. Yep that's right, Notre Dame at home on Sunday the 11th, and UCLA at home on Friday the 16th, back to back home games with the NCAA finalists!
After that is mostly conference games. The marquee matchup being a Oct. 21 trip to Portland.

This, as I said, is all "unofficial" at this point and may be subject to change.

[casocrfan]

Time to start looking ahead to August. Anyone out there have any thoughts on the coming season, key players, etc.

I'll start off with the schedule. While the schedule has not been officially announced, here's some highlights from what a little bird has told me:

Open the season at home on August 26 against Arizona State. August 28th looks to be a home game with an opponent still TBA.
Labor Day weekend in North Carolina. Not Chapel Hill, but rather Winston-Salem at the Wake Forest Tournament. Friday vs. Va Tech and Sunday vs. Wake Forest.
Next weekend is the SCU Adidas Classic. Much earlier than usual - rumored to be due to an accomodation made to Notre Dame to secure their participation. So circle the calendar - Sunday, Sept. 11 SCU vs. Notre Dame! Cal State Fullerton is the third team mentioned. Not sure on the 4th team, but Stanford is NOT included this year. Again rumor is that the forementioned shift from the normal dates (to secure the Irish) conflicts with Stanford's schedule. SCU will play the Cardinal on Sept. 30 as part of Stanford's tournament.
Completing a glorious week of soccer at the Shaw will be a Sept. 16 game against UCLA. Yep that's right, Notre Dame at home on Sunday the 11th, and UCLA at home on Friday the 16th, back to back home games with the NCAA finalists!
After that is mostly conference games. The marquee matchup being a Oct. 21 trip to Portland.

This, as I said, is all "unofficial" at this point and may be subject to change.

Very deep recruiting class coming in this Fall. I'm particularly interested in seeing how the trio from Bethesda perform. They won a national youth championship together so they are used to performing under pressure. Also curious to see how Sarkisian will fit it. The ASU transfer was a standout youth player but didn't see much playing time her first fall in college. The big question will be who will score. I think Estrada needs to step up and become the go to player up top. If she does, then the team will be fine.

[ussoccr]

Very deep recruiting class coming in this Fall. I'm particularly interested in seeing how the trio from Bethesda perform. They won a national youth championship together so they are used to performing under pressure. Also curious to see how Sarkisian will fit it. The ASU transfer was a standout youth player but didn't see much playing time her first fall in college. The big question will be who will score. I think Estrada needs to step up and become the go to player up top. If she does, then the team will be fine.

I agree. The Broncos seemed to struggle to score at times during the 2004 season as well. Sometimes they seemed to be looking for the "perfect shot." Osborne will obviously be a tough loss to fill, so will the speed of Kakadelas and Horvath up front. Defense retuns probably better than '04. Very strong in goal with Julie Ryder returning, backline loses only Lana Bowen and that is countered by the return of Jess Ballweg. It will be tough to score on the Broncos, the big question will be production on the offensive end.

[RandomSoccer]

Speaking of Kakadelas, there's an interview of her up on espn.com

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=322774&cc=5901

[Soccercrd]

[QUOTE=casocrfan]Very deep recruiting class coming in this Fall. I'm particularly interested in seeing how the trio from Bethesda perform. They won a national youth championship together so they are used to performing under pressure.

Bethesda Excel has been to Nationals a couple of times, but I believe they have always lost to whichever team was representing Region IV in their age group. Could be wrong, but my recollection on winners is -- last year, So Cal United. Year before that, San Diego Surf. Year before that, Laguna Hills Eclipse. Year before that was first nat'l championship eligibility for the age group and was won by KC Dynamo. I do think the three from Betheseda are obviously a talented bunch. Poach has had two ACLs, so I will be very interested to see how she has recovered from a streak of bad luck on injuries. Siegel has the distinction of a red card in a national camp. Holmes was U-19 roster in Thailand this year with a lot of playing time -- a great athlete.

[ussoccr]

The 2005 season will be the 25th for the Broncos. SCU is planning a big reunion weekend to kick things off in May. See article below from SCU website for details.

http://santaclarabroncos.collegesports.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/020205aab.html

Some interesting facts about the SCU program:

Didn't become fully funded until 1998 and since that time SCU has won 4 out of 5 matches against perenial power North Carolina.

SCU is the only school in NCAA history to have their men's and women's programs ranked #1 at the same time (happened during both the '90 and '99 seasons).

SCU is the only women's team to have advanced to the NCAA quaterfinals in each of the last 10 seasons.

Congratulations to all of the Broncos over the past 25 years, and hopefully there will be the same success for the next 25 years and beyond!

[Soccercrd]

Saw Santa Clara's press release about their class of 2005 signings. Was expecting to see Meagan Holmes and Ashley Copp on that list, but they were not included. Does anyone know if Holmes or Copp changed their mind or if Santa Clara released the info before their NLIs were returned?

[WCC05]

Saw Santa Clara's press release about their class of 2005 signings. Was expecting to see Meagan Holmes and Ashley Copp on that list, but they were not included. Does anyone know if Holmes or Copp changed their mind or if Santa Clara released the info before their NLIs were returned?

San Diego paper indicates that Ashley Copp signed with Pepperdine on Feb 2. Here is the link:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/preps/20050202-9999-1s2p-brand.html

[ussoccr]

Saw Santa Clara's press release about their class of 2005 signings. Was expecting to see Meagan Holmes and Ashley Copp on that list, but they were not included. Does anyone know if Holmes or Copp changed their mind or if Santa Clara released the info before their NLIs were returned?

Meagan Holmes has Santa Clara listed as her school for 2005 on her bio at ussoccer.com. I am interested as to why she was not included on the press release.

http://www.ussoccer.com/bio/bio.sps?iBiographyID=11676

[Soccercrd]

Inquiring minds want to know -- does anyone have info on Meagan Holmes?

[SBfan]

I've heard that she is visiting a southern Cal school today.

[WCC05]

I've heard that she is visiting a southern Cal school today.

Inquiring minds....here is the latest....

http://www.collegesports.com/sports/w-soccer/stories/020405aai.html

:confused:

[Soccercrd]

I just heard that she has given her letter of intent to U. of Southern California, so my question has been answered. Thanks.

[casocrfan]

I just heard that she has given her letter of intent to U. of Southern California, so my question has been answered. Thanks.

so I guess SCU gets her after her freshman year now.

[Soccercrd]

Meow. News flash - the world doesn't revolve around MK.

[ingaobv]

[COLOR=Black]This "deal" has been in the works for weeks, it seems like there have got to be some NCAA recruiting violations here, don't you think? What ever happened to giving your word when one commits, especially so early..

[ussoccr]

[COLOR=Black]This "deal" has been in the works for weeks, it seems like there have got to be some NCAA recruiting violations here, don't you think? What ever happened to giving your word when one commits, especially so early..
As far as I know verbals are just that, verbal. Nothing is official to the NCAA until the NLI is signed. Until then, players are free to change their minds, but it is very rare when they do. My speculation is that Ms. Holmes became good friends with Amy Rodriguez when they were together this past fall with the U19s and decided to join her at USC instead of SCU. It is a little surprising since two of Meagan's Bethesda teammates are going to SCU. It must have been a very difficult decision, and it appears she wasn't ready to make in on the first day of NLI signing.

[WCC Fan]

This may be very premature, but Jerry Smith keeps getting mentioned as a prime candidate to take over the WNT now that April Heinrichs has resigned. Some people are suggesting that Brandi step in as SCU head coach.

What do SCU people think of that idea? Do you think Brandi is ready for the job? I imagine she'd be a good recruiter, but I still wonder how the program would fare without Jerry.

[ussoccr]

This may be very premature, but Jerry Smith keeps getting mentioned as a prime candidate to take over the WNT now that April Heinrichs has resigned. Some people are suggesting that Brandi step in as SCU head coach.

What do SCU people think of that idea? Do you think Brandi is ready for the job? I imagine she'd be a good recruiter, but I still wonder how the program would fare without Jerry.

The immediate concern for the Broncos is replacing assistant coach Mike Smith. He has taken a similar job with the Oregon Ducks. Mike has been a great asset to the Bronco program, and he will be missed.

On to the speculation . . . I am sure that if Jerry decides to pursue this opportunity he would be considered by US Soccer. It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out.

It would seem that Brandi would be the natural choice to assume the SCU job if Jerry ends up with the WNT. Her only apparent drawback would be a lack of formal coaching experience at the collegiate level. I think that is overcome by her playing experience, personality, knowledge and love for the game and SCU, and high profile with potential recruits. The biggest benefit might be that the program would not have to fare without Jerry, so to speak. He would most likely still be involved with the SCU program, be it as an unofficial/volunteer or behind the scenes level, much as Brandi has been doing and continues to do.

We'll all just have to wait and see.

[upprv]

I am not a Santa Clara fan, in that I am not super loyal or whatnot, but I like their style, admire Jerry Smith and respect their level of play. That being said, if I was a SCU rabid fan, I would be wary of a Chastain hire. What exactly are her qualifications? She has never been a head coach, let alone at the highest level, and the only reason she is in the position to coach, is not based on "paying her dues" and moving up the ladder, but she is married to the head coach.

Now, she might be a great coach, or an awful coach, but my point is that she should be hired based on coaching qualifications, not her playing experience. I love the Chicago Bulls, but I would be the first to tell you I would be wary of them hiring Jorden to coach them. I think he is the greatest ever, but i don't want my team's future to make that gamble.

Just my 2 cents.

My other question has to do with the player's reaction to Chastain. From what I have heard the SCU players are not big fans of her as a coach, she is condescending and aloof. That is a non-issue, of course, in that if she is a great coach, she should be hired, but we don't even know that. Wouldn't you guys want someone with a background of success to be entrusted with your program? Again, I think the world of SCU and Jerry, so this is not an attack in any way. I would think with the way that parity is advancing in women's college soccer, no team can afford a 2-3 year lull on an "experiment coach." best wishes for a happy and healthy spring season.