SPOKANE, Wash. – Gonzaga women's soccer held off No. 15 Santa Clara for 1-0 upset win at Luger Field Sunday. In front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU, the Zags beat SCU for only the second time in program history to stay atop the West Coast Conference standings with two games left in the regular season.
The Bulldogs (12-3-1, 5-1-0 West Coast Conference) were 1-25-3 against Santa Clara coming into the match. Both teams, along with Pepperdine, were all tied for first in the conference standings with just a week left. GU's lone victory over the Broncos was in 2007 when SCU was No. 12, 2-1, and last season's draw at Santa Clara snapped a 12-match win streak for SCU in the series that dates to 1993.
It's Gonzaga's first win over a ranked team since beating No. 23 Memphis 3-2 in Spokane in 2017. It was also the Bulldogs' seventh-ever victory over a ranked team and fourth over a Top-15 ranked foe.
Spokane native
Chelsea Le scored the game-winning goal for Gonzaga in the 40th minute on a penalty kick drawn by
Katelyn Rigg. It was Le's second goal of the season.
It was the Bulldogs' fifth WCC win of the season. It's the sixth straight season Gonzaga has reached five wins in conference play. The Zags had never won five games in conference play until this recent streak. GU has never won six WCC games in a single season. Gonzaga's 12 win matches the second-most victories in a season. Last season, the Bulldogs won a program-best 15 games.
Santa Clara (11-4-2, 4-2-0 WCC) outshot Gonzaga 19-8, with a 7-5 edge in shots on goal.
Lauren Towne made six saves to preserve the Bulldogs' seventh shutout of the season. Marlee Nicolos had four saves for the Broncos.
The Zags and Pepperdine (8-3-5, 5-1-0) are tied for the league lead. The Waves, who have won five straight, are San Francisco (6-7-3, 3-2-1) Wednesday, while GU hosts Loyola Marymount (6-9-2, 0-4-2). The Bulldogs finish the regular season at Pepperdine Saturday.
Gonzaga's 2023 home finale against LMU is schedule for a 6 p.m. start Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN Plus, with live stats on GoZags.com.
