Also, schools like Cal, USC and UCLA can get any athletes they want in, no matter what their grades. Stanford, on the other hand, has to be very selective. So, all your talk about who is most selective and who is more selective is funny because Santa Clara, CAL, USC and UCLA all can get whoever they want into school... You also were making fun of Smith for his national championship way back when...None of those other schools you mentioned even have one. In my opinion they should have had one before a small, private school like SCU that just became fully funded in 1999.
Actually schools like UCLA and CAl and the state schools cannot get any athlete in they want. USC, the privates, even Stanford control their own admissions. Public schools are governed by a standard set of guidelines that cannot be waived. Now, most schools have more stingent guidelines, which can be waived to allow athletes admissions over regular joes, but when it comes to the base standards, their is no getting around it. (Oddly enough, the state system has the most demanding or stringent admissions standards that cause admissions counselors headaches in admitting athletes. For example, in the state system, you cannot have received a "D" at any time in your high school career in your core courses. So if second semester freshman year you got a "D" in English and have been a model student the whole rest of the way, you will not be admitted to any state school, athlete or not. That is not the case in the UC's, or private schools. You can retake the course to be admitted, BTW.) USC, SCU, Pepperdine, etc...can do whatever they want. Stanford and schools like CHapman, Occidental, the Claremont Colleges have set their own bar pretty high. But across the board, with private schools you are paying for the name, the high priced education, the small numbers and the prestige, NOT the education. (I have worked in admissions for a long time, so sorry for the diatribe)
all of the schools we are talking about have very high admission standards and at every school, minus Stanford, the coach is usually given a "pass" on 1-2 players per team that might not be up to the normal admission standards but most of the coaches do not need to do this for women's soccer. There are too many talented players with good grades!
1. Rocky: your bashing of Jerry Smith is completely transparent. You obviously have a personal vendatta against him and it colors everything you post, thereby negating your purpose. 2. Regarding admissions standards of athletes and quality of education, Santa Clara can and should be extremely proud on both scores. Trying to rank any of the best of the WCC and/or Pac-10 programs in this regard is moot and pointless because there is virtually no way to quantify one's argument. 3. The injuries certainly present a huge challenge to the 2007 team but (sorry, Rocky) Jerry usually seems to find a way to make it all work.
Hey Mister U.S. News & World Report: it's obvious the concept behind the terms "More Selective" and "Most Selective" in regards to admissions was too complicated for you because you're just too stupid. And in regards to Jerry Smith: he has said his goal is to win a national championship, and not just reach the second round. In terms of recruiting towards that end, the last time he had any success was with Leslie Osborne in high school, back when Clinton was still in the White House. Since then he has failed to bring in the players needed. In that time, Florida State, a school with those same advantageous "More Selective" admission requirements as SCU's, has surpassed Jerry's efforts in both recruiting and in reaching the College Cup. Jerry lost his edge with everyone competing for the same talent pool. He even had to watch Kevin Boyd at Cal out-recruit him and it will only get worse for Jerry with Boyd now enjoying third-tier standards at ASU. Here's what Soccer Buzz thought of Jerry's recruiting for the classes of his current team: 2004: Ranked #15 2005: Ranked #4 2006: Ranked #4 2007: Ranked #6 Good, but not quite good enough. Is anyone predicting a national championship for SCU?
A "pass" on 1-2 players per team that might not be up to the normal admission standards?!? This is true? Please substantiate. If not, please refrain from posting lies as if they were fact. Thank you.
From Top Drawer Soccer's national blog: http://topdrawersoccer.com/AroundAmerica/ Santa Clara reeling from injuries, but there’s good news, too August 27th, 2007 BY SCOTT FRENCH Top Drawer Soccer GARDEN GROVE, Calif. – The women’s college soccer season kicks off this weekend, and no discussion of national championship contenders is complete without Santa Clara, one of six schools to win an NCAA title and, to many of us who appreciate the beautiful game – emphasis on “beautiful” – the finest practitioner of jogo bonito in the U.S. Jerry Smith, who is entering his 21st season at Santa Clara, has guided the Broncos to 10 NCAA final fours, winning the title in 2001 (with a roster that featured Aly Wagner, Leslie Osborne and Danielle Slaton) and returning to the final in 2002 (falling in overtime to West Coast Conference rival Portland, which rewarded legendary coach Clive Charles with his only NCAA crown in his final game). His 1999 team, which was upset in the semifinal by Notre Dame, might be the finest ever to play the college game, a worthy rival to North Carolina’s perfect 1992 and 2003 sides – aside, of course, from the trophies. Smith put together a roster for this season that, no question, could challenge Carolina, Notre Dame, Portland, UCLA and Texas A&M – 2007’s big five, it seems – then watched it fall apart before preseason camp began. The goals remain heady, national title and so forth, but the means to achieve them may have been destroyed by injury. The Broncos have lost four players, three established stars and a lauded freshman, to season-killing injuries. Two of them played for the U.S. at last year’s FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Russia. The other two have spent years in U.S. Soccer’s youth national team program. Out for the season: • Junior midfielder Amanda Poach, the Broncos’ most talented player, who plays holding midfielder – the most important position in Smith’s 4-3-3 system. Poach, who played in the U-20 World Cup, tore an ACL while preparing for the Pan-American Games. • Senior forward Jordan Angeli, one of the Broncos’ best leaders, their best header and one of their co-captains. Angeli, who also played in the U-20 World Cup, also is out with a torn ACL. • Junior Dani Potts, the only returning starter on the backline. She has avascular necrosis: her foot bone doesn’t receive blood. They’re using a bone stimulator and other noninvasive techniques to deal with the injury, but if those don’t work, surgery is the next step. • Freshman Chelsea Bednarz, a big, physical forward from Chandler, Ariz., who prepped in Sereno’s system, tore the “Liz Frank” ligament in her left foot. The “Liz Frank” runs atop the foot, holding together the five bones that lead to the toes, and it’s most common in football offensive linemen. Bednarz, another youth national team veteran, had surgery, with five screws implanted in her foot. Losing Poach, Angeli and Potts nearly guts the Broncos, taking away skill, experience and leadership. Bednarz was expected to contribute immediately. Other important players remain. Senior midfielder Brittany Klein, Smith says, is the “heart of our team, to be honest,” and sophomore forward Kiki Bosio is “our most consistent forward – her attacking game is really, really outstanding.” Meagan Snell, the Broncos’ leading scorer last year (11 goals, 25 points) is back, and so are midfielder Hayley Siegel, defender Chioma Igwe and goalkeeper Meagan McCray. Freshmen Kendra Perry (Pleasanton Rage) and forward Jessie Baddley (Celtic Frost) are big-time additions. All have been U.S. youth national-teamers. But depth now is at a premium. Santa Clara’s roster is down to 18 players, two of them goalkeepers, and additional injuries, to be expected, could kill hopes to compete with Portland in the WCC and accomplish much in the NCAA Tournament. “We’ve got to stay healthy going forward,” Smith said. “All the players know they need to step up, knows they have to contribute. Sometimes when everyone knows you need to step up, players do. They rise to the occasion. With Jordan and Amanda, those players are leaders, our most talented players. Some figure, ‘I’ll assume a subordinate role.’ Now they know they need to step up and be impactful for us. “It’s analogous to a team that just had a player red-carded. Every player on the field knows they need to step up. I think we could enjoy something like that this year. To be honest, we can’t afford any more injuries.” The news isn’t all bad. The Broncos are welcoming back four players, all of them with national-teams experience, three of them forced to miss all or most of last season and the third, former U-19 star Lexi Orand, healthier than she’s been in three years. Senior forward Tina Estrada, who scored 11 goals in 2005 and has 26 goals and 14 assists in three seasons, is back after redshirting season with a torn ACL. Sophomore midfielder Courtney Lewis, another of the Broncos’ leaders, was limited to four games after doing her knee. And defender Lindsey Johnson, a redshirt freshman, tore her ACL in last year’s opener. The feel-good story involves Orand, who a few years ago was one of the country’s brightest prospects. She starred for Southern California’s Slammers FC – she was Golden Boot winner after leading Slammers to the U-14 national title – and played for the U.S. at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand. Two and a half years ago, Orand was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Syndrome, the fatigue-inducing illness that slowed and ultimately stopped Michelle Akers. “For two years, I wondered if she was ever going to play, ever be an impactful player for us,” Smith said. “I haven’t had a whole lot of optimism until this preseason.” Orand and her parents, after much searching, much trial and error, finally figured out how to deal with the disease, and Smith, finally, is expecting to see her at or near her best. Bosio, Estrada and Snell figure to be the Broncos’ starters up front, but Orand – who played in 21 games as a freshman last season – will see considerable time. “She’s absolutely a goalscorer,” Smith says. The Broncos open the season Friday against neighboring San Jose State, then take on Notre Dame and Virginia in their tournament the following weekend. Also on the schedule: UCLA, Cal, Stanford, and the annual showdown against Portland on Oct. 28 at the Pilots’ Merlo Field. It’ll be a challenge with so much talent watching from the stands. “The team is going to take more losses in the regular season than we normally do,” Smith said. “We must have the toughness to handle that and move on as a group. I think that might be a challenge. Twelve of our 20 (regular-season) games will be on the road. Because we’re not as deep, because we have so many road games – because, because, because – we’ll not be as highly seeded in the NCAA Tournament, potentially. That means we’ll have to go into the NCAAs having to play road games. Can we handle that? It’ll be a challenge. … “We will be the underdog in more games this year than we normally are, and that might be refreshing. I hope the team relishes the opportunity to be in the underdog role.”
Congrats to Scott French, the reporter who wrote this. He obviously did his homework and knows his stuff. This article is dead-on as to all of the challenges facing Santa Clara this year. It will certainly be interesting to see how they do. Can't wait for the season to start.
Sloppy win over SJSU, but the first-year players looked strong. Perry had great touch and nice vision, Patton was solid in back and attacked well, Baddley provided us a nice change of pace up front with her size and strength. Goynes did ok, but looked a bit overwhelmed at times. It was nice to see Johnson back in the line-up. I'm sure she won't be at full strength until much later in the season. Surprise of the game for me was the play of Lewis in the midfield - she gives the team some much needed muscle in the midfield now that Igwe is on the backline. Offense created a ton of opportunities that hopefully we will put away as the season moves on. Midfield was in and out of the game. I wish Klein could have been involved more. Defense was scary at times, but that is to be expected with so many new faces back there. It's going to take time for the backline to adjust. Any news on Hayley? Is it as bad as it looked? Here's hoping it's not! Next weekend the competition is in another class and I would be happy to get a split this early on in the season with so many young players.
SC conceded their two second half goals from the left side. One a lose ball from the mid which created an offensive opportunity for SJ to get behind the defense and draw a pk in the box and the second, a free kick which hung up in the late afternoon breeze to float over the keeper.
this was unbelievable. Night and day from the team that took the field against San Jose last week. Great energy, hussle and in the second half some incredible soccer. First half was mostly solid defense and then dropping the ball behind ND back line to watch SCU forwards run at the net. In the second half the midfield got into the action and started creating the space for the forwards. Patton and Reynolds (a freshman and a sophomore converted forward) played exceptionally well as the outside defenders. Klein was solid in the midfield but Lewis was amazing. Up front everybody who played was great. Snell's goal in the second half was one of the best shots I have ever seen in women's soccer. Now, can they regroup and keep this up against a Virginia team on Sunday that should have beaten Stanford tonight. One final note.... Notre Dame quit about 10 minutes into the second half. Very un-Irish like.
I thought Klein was quite awesome in the midfield but to me the defense was amazing for Santa Clara. Lead by Igwe who normally plays midfield, and 3 players including Reynolds a converted forward who played what 5 games last year as a freshman, Johnson who had an acl tear as a freshman in the first game, and another freshman, got better and better as the game progressed. Igwe has amazing vision on that field and managed to head the ball out over and over again. Of course McCray in goal as always is a great player.
Didnt look like the ND we have come to know and fear-SC offensive production was simply amazing-Bosio was everywhere, Snells goal was priceless, Baddleys set up tenacious-offense offense and more offense. ND never really clicked at all.
SCU 0 Virginia 0 Two good teams kind of nullified each other in this one. Not a lot of shots - both teams looked a bit tired from their Friday Night matchups. As for SCU - got to think that everybody is happy to get a win and a tie this weekend against two top 10 teams. The young players are really stepping up. A tough game next Friday at Stanford against Rutgers. We'll see if this young team can stay consistent.