September 12, 2012

Women's Soccer Ventures to Santa Clara Tournament

GAME NOTES (PDF)

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG women's soccer team travels to Santa Clara, Calif. to participate in the Santa Clara Tournament this weekend starting with host Santa Clara Friday at 10:30 EST at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Spartans will finish the tournament against No. 3 Stanford Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.

The Spartans (3-3) defeated in-state rival High Point 1-0 last Sunday on a game-winning goal from sophomore Ashley Stokes (Cary, N.C./Green Hope) in the 67^th minute. Stokes found the back of the net for the first time this season after receiving a perfect pass from teammate Katie Durst (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive).

UNCG improved to 3-0 against teams from the state of North Carolina with victories against Wake Forest (1-0), UNC Asheville (7-0) and High Point (1-0).

Freshman goalkeeper Jamie Simmons (Houston, Texas/Clear Brook) picked up her second clean sheet of the season, making five saves in the win against High Point. Simmons has 35 saves in six games and a 1.06 goals against average.

It will be a homecoming for seniors Cat Barnekow (Santa Rosa, Calif./Santa Rosa JC) and Lauren Hein (Torrance, Calif./South Torrance), as well as freshmen Zoe Fishman (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real Charter), Shelby Brown (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic) and Jesse McGinley (Truckee, Calif./Truckee), who all hail from California.

This will be the second meeting between UNCG and Santa Clara with the lone contest a 1-0 victory for the Spartans in 2008. UNCG is 0-2 against Stanford with the last meeting coming in 2009 - a 1-0 victory for the Cardinal.

Santa Clara enters the weekend with a 3-2-2 record after tying Georgetown 1-1 in double overtime and defeating Boston University 1-0 last weekend in Stanford's Tournament. The Broncos are receiving eight votes in the NSCAA Top 25 poll as Sarah Jackson leads the team with two goals and one assist. Santa Clara also welcomes back top player Julie Johnston who captained the U-20 USA team and helped the squad win the World Cup in Japan.

Stanford, the defending national champion, is 4-1-1 with its only loss at the Penn State Invitational to West Virginia by a score of 1-0. It was the first lost for the Cardinal since the 2010 national championship game which Notre Dame won 1-0. Stanford also tied No. 6 Boston College and beat No. 23 Georgetown 6-0. The Cardinal are led by Natalie Griffen and Mariah Nogueira who each have four goals, while Sydney Payne and Alina Garciamendez are tied for second with three apiece. Cardinal goalkeeper Aly Gleason has made four starts and played in six games while allowing a 0.80 GAA and collecting 13 saves with one shutout.

Santa Clara will provide live stats and live video of both contests this weekend at www.santaclarabroncos.com.

Be sure to follow all updates about the 2012 UNCG women's soccer team on www.uncgspartans.com or on twitter @UNCGsports/@CoachNugent.

- UNCG -