Santa Clara - what happened?

I knew Santa Clara was having a poor season but now I see they are 4-12-3 . augh.
Anyone know what happened?

They lost several starters to season ending injuries for the 2nd year in a row... just didn't have the continuity or chemistry... then to top that off they played a fairly strong schedule with a few decent results... They Tied UCLA, they beat West Virginia.

Lots of injuries for sure. They played most or all of the season without Kiki Bosio, Amanda Poach, and Jordan Angeli, perhaps their three best players. I think there were others out as well.

Its kind of too bad because this is our usual conference rival. A season like this cannot be good for recruiting.

AP, their 2009 recruiting class looks a little something like this

Beaudoin, Kate M Beaverton, OR FC Portland Jesuit


Jeffers, Zoe F Peoria, AZ Slammers FC

Sunrise Mountain 2007 Region IV ODP
2007 adidas ESP Camp
2007 adidas ESP Camp All-Star
2008 Region IV ODP Invitational Camp (1991s)

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Kawamoto, Lauren F Oak Park, CA Real So Cal Oak Park

2008 Region IV ODP Invitational Camp (1991s)

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Klei, Olivia M Pleasanton, CA Pleasanton Rage Foothill HS

2007 U-16 NT Player Pool
2007 January U-16 NT Camp
2007 February U-16 NT Camp
2007 April U-16 NT Camp
2007 U-17 NT European Tour
2007 U-16 NT December Brazil Trip
2007 NSCAA Youth All-American
2008 U-17 NT Player Pool
2008 January U-17 NT Camp
2008 U-17 NT Future Stars Tournament - NZL
2008 March U-17 NT Camp
2008 April U-17 NT Camp
2008 May U-17 NT Camp
2008 June U-17 NT Camp
2008 July U-17 NT Camp
2008 Region IV ODP Invitational Camp (1991s)
2008 Team USA - U-17 WC Qualifying
2008 August U-17 NT Camp
2008 September U-17 NT Camp
2008 October U-17 NT Camp
Team USA - U-17 World Cup - NZL

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Matheson, Lauren M Mission Viejo, CA So Cal Blues Mission Viejo

2007 U-16 NT Player Pool
2007 January U-16 NT Camp
2007 ODP Thanksgiving Interregional
2008 U-17 NT Player Pool
2008 Region IV ODP Invitational Camp (1991s)
2008 Region IV ODP

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Shim, Meleana F Honolulu, HI Leahi SC Kamehameha

2007 Region IV ODP
2008 Region IV ODP Invitational Camp (1991s)


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Vernon, Allie M Homer Glen, IL Ohio Elite Lockport Township

2006 U-16 NT Women's Nike Friendlies
2006 NSCAA Youth All-American
2007 U-17 NT Player Pool
2007 April U-17 NT Camp
2007 adidas ESP Camp
2007 adidas ESP Camp All-Star
2007 Nike Premier 50 Camp
2007 NP 50 Camp - Most Valuable Player
2007 NSCAA Youth All-American
2008 U-18 NT Player Pool
2008 '89/'90 SYL Select National Team
2008 Region II France Trip
2008 May U-18 NT Camp
2008 PARADE All-American
2008 June U-18 NT Camp

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Webster, Amanda F Saugus, MA Stars of Massachusetts Saint Mary's

2007 Region I ODP

Impressive list for 2009 but they committed before this season. Should be an impressive roster of players next year. Lets see if Jerry still has it.

Here's something I'm wondering what others think about. Santa Clara has announced its new recruiting class. It looks like a very good bunch of players. But what surprised me is that there are 10 of them. This year, they had a roster of 23 players. Two are senior goalkeepers who will graduate (not the great freshman, Biancha Henniger, who played the second half against us). One is Jordan Angeli, who was a red-shirt senior but missed the season with another injury. If Angeli stays, that will put them at 31 players.

This is a lot more players than they have carried in the past. It suggests to me that Angeli might not be coming back next year and that perhaps some of their other injured players are done with their careers. Or, possibly with the decimation by injury that Santa Clara has experienced the last few years, the coaching staff is thinking they need to go with bigger rosters.

Any thoughts?

In another Santa Clara piece of information, Leslie Osborne has signed on as a volunteer assistant coach. (She will be on the Bay Area's FC Gold Pride WPS team, which I believe will be playing at Buck Shaw Stadium. Am I right about the stadium?)

the Gold Pride plans to play at Buck Shaw and they probably will. I don't think they had signed a lease or whatever by mid January.

As to the Broncos roster, a couple considerations:

They had some attrition last year besides the injuries. A couple players just quit. I don't have a list handy, but there were three players, I think.

I'd expect the roster to settle out at a roster in the mid to high 20's. I think Jerry is tired of playing short handed.

They lost Jessie Badley from their 2008 recruiting class before the 2009 season. She was the #6 national recruit and a frequent member of the national team so this also hurt them this past season.

Thanks for the info, Geez.

For comparison of roster sizes, the Pilots had 21 players on their roster this year. With Megan, Rachael, and Korie finishing, that drops them to 18 returning players. Add the 5 incoming players we know of and that brings us to 23.

The question of roster size is something that interests me. As a high school tennis coach for soon to be 14 years, one of the things I've realized is that there are ideal roster sizes. You have to account for players not being available due to injury (and, in high school, other activities). You also have to account for some players improving faster than others and working their way into the starting lineup. But, there's a size beyond which a roster gets too big. For tennis, there are two factors that weigh against large rosters: (1) the number of tennis courts available; and (2) the number of coaches, which determines how much coaching attention each player can receive. The first factor -- soccer facility availability -- probably isn't a big issue for college soccer. However, the second factor -- getting significant coaching attention for players -- would seem to be a big factor. It's not just a matter of time spent with players. It's also a matter of how many players a coach can keep in his/her mind over the course of a season. Thinking about a player and how best to help her maximize her potential, fit within the team, and have the best possible learning experience is time consuming. I remember stories about Clive Charles meeting individually with players and it is clear from those stories that he paid serious attention to every player. Another factor is maintaining a real "team" culture that includes every player. I've had different roster sizes over the years and am convinced that to devote enough individual attention to players, to maintain a real "team" culture, and to have enough players to account for player unavailability and to allow for some players to work their way into the lineup, there's an ideal range for a roster size.

For college soccer at a high level, with injuries and national team commitments, the ideal range seems to me to be right around where the Pilots are -- probably in the 21-23 range. I guess there are other approaches coaches can take -- maybe with less of a sense of obligation to individual players and less concern about a real "team" culture -- that can be successful. But I don't think those approaches maximize what a player can learn, both in terms of soccer and in terms of life lessons.

Unfortunately, the trend seems to be towards larger rosters for women's soccer teams. I hope the Pilots staff holds its ground.

I agree with the 21-23 sized roster. That was my ideal when coaching my high school girls varsity team. It allows for full-field scrimmages when called for but is not so large that individual attention becomes impossible. It allows for injury and other reasons for missed games but still leaves enough playing time for everyone. It seemed about right to foster "team" cohesiveness.

My first team there had a roster of 14, 13 after I kicked one girl off the team. That was fun. A roster of 45 might have looked good that season, but - I can't understand why a coach would want more than a two-full-team roster. Playing time and individual attention go out the door. I also don't understand why a player would commit to a school with that large a roster.