Women’s soccer in Santa Clara has a stronger legacy than any other NCAA program. With two national titles and a backdrop full of familiar types of talent across the sport, the Broncos always have high hopes.
It won’t be easy to manage, but head coach Jerry Smith has a blueprint.
“We are talking about controlling the controllable,” said Smith, who is at the helm in his 34th season. “We talk about staying in the moment. It’s not good, so I said I’m in a really tough situation.”
The Broncos won their second national title in 2020 as the pandemic roiled the college sports world, and last season they were eliminated in the College Cup semi-finals by eventual champions BYU on penalties, while the Cougars won all three. converted.
They were back on campus two weeks ago and were on a mission to get back there and move on. Everything starts with a short memory.
“We’re not doing anything,” Smith said. “(Past championships) represent the teams of the past. We have to get out there and prove it or things will start to go sideways.”
Santa Clara defeated San Jose State on Thursday night to start the season in the W column. Senior midfielder Izida Quira scored in the 65th minute to give the Broncos the win. This was the 524th of Smith’s coaching career.
The rest of the Broncos’ non-conference schedule is littered with challenges. They will face TCU, No. 14, Penn State, No. 21, and No. 13, UCLA, in the preseason, where he is 19-2.
As with the growing pains Smith expects from the Broncos, it’s all intentional.
“We take longer[to figure out what we have]than any team in the country,” he said. “Usually it takes until the beginning of October. We lost eight seniors this year, so it will take longer.”
The Broncos have nine new players. Among them, he has 8 new students and 1 alumni transfer. Smith said there are usually two of him or three of him, but there is a chance that “six or seven” will see a good amount of time. One of his freshmen started on Thursday, with Holly Furphy starting, and two of his others (Leah O’Brien and Farrah Walters) were also in the game.
Decisions are already looming in Santa Clara. Goalkeeper Marley Nicholas missed most of last season after tearing his ACL twice. She’s expected to return at some point this season, but Smith stressed she’s in no rush. He started the rest and was named MVP by his teammates.
Then there’s Sally Menty, who tore her ACL before the U20 World Cup. After being eliminated by the USWNT earlier this week, he was replaced by Santa Clara freshman Annie Kalic, who is set to return to the team soon. completely miss.
Smith said that early season rotations and lineups are very different, so by the time the nationals begin, there’s no need to experiment anymore.
In the past four postseasons, the Broncos have been eliminated 12-1-2.
One of the Broncos’ graduation losses is Kelsey Turnbow, who won the penalty kick game winner in the 2020 College Cup and was a finalist in the MAC Harman Trophy last season before joining the NWSL’s San Diego wave.
As the Broncos are further excluded from national championship teams, the urgency to forge their own identity grows.
“We’re still used to it,” said D’Aquila. “We’ve got a lot of great talent coming in, so it’s just a matter of letting them experience the game and make them comfortable. There’s some anxiety and nervousness the first time around, but it’s just excitement.”
The Broncos will host UC Davis in their first home match on Sunday before entering the toughest part of their schedule leading up to the postseason. Their lineup will be different than San Jose. And it continues after that.
So don’t get used to what you’re seeing from Santa Clara. The real team should show up later in the fall, and we expect them to make it to the College Cup.
“You don’t want to play with us in November,” Smith said. “I’m feeling really good in November.”
Marisa Injemi is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: marisa.ingemi@sfchronicle.com
