Sports Page 10 _Monday, September 20,1999 No. 1 Santa Clara gives NU 1st loss By Brandon Schulte Staff writer The Nebraska soccer team’s quest for the No. 1 ranking will have to wait ... at least for a little while A second-half goal wasn’t enough as No. 3 NU was defeated -1 by No. 1 Santa Clara in the championship game of the Stanford Nike Invitational. The loss was the first on the season for the Comhuskers and dropped them to 7-1-0 on the season. The Broncos remained undefeated at 7-0-0. NU’s Lindsay Eddleman scored off a comer kick from Jenny Benson at 69 minutes 54 seconds to cut the 2-0 half time deficit to 2-1. And Nebraska’s doom was sealed when a desperation shot missed with three seconds left. Nebraska managed just three shots compared to 11 for Santa Clara. Despite his team’s first loss, NU Coach John Walker saw positive signs in the second half. “Santa Clara was better than us today, but at the same time, I thought we did some good things,” Walker said. "Most importantly, we didn’t give up when we got down early. We continued to battle and fight. “I thought in the second half we were the ones controlling the game. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get more shots off, but they are a great team.” The Broncos got their first goal of the match in the 26th minute when Heather Aldama took a flick off the heel of Jacqui Little and arched her shot over Husker goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc from 16 yards out. The second goal came three min utes before intermission when All American forward Mandy Clemens took a ball from midfielder Kerry Cathcart. LeBlanc rushed out of the net to cut down the angle on the shot, and Clemens scored from 12 yards away. The game against the Broncos was 66 Santa Clam was better than us today, but at the same time ... we did some good things ” John Walker NU women’s soccer coach a t the only one in which the Huskers were behind in the tournament. Nebraska also trailed in the second half of the first game against No. 22 Stanford. However, the Cornhuskers scored twice in five minutes for the 2-1 result. Kori Saunders tied the match at one when she was able to head a Jenny Benson cross into the net at 67:51. That set up All-American Isabelle Morneau’s game-winning goal. Morneau took a cross from fellow defender and All-American Sharolta Nonen in the 73 rd minute. Blitzes lead to big game for rush ends ■ Vanden Bosch and Wills keep the Golden Eagles at bay to secure the 20-13 lead against Southern Mississippi. By Joshua Camenzind Staff writer With the two-interception performance of Keyuo Craver and the two-touchdown perfor mance by Julius Jackson against Southern Mississippi, one group of the defense might have been overlooked - the rush ends. Junior Kyle Vanden Bosch and senior Aaron Wills played a big part in the win over the Golden Eagles with 17 tackles combined. Rush Ends Coach Nelson Barnes said he was pleased with the play of his two young starters. “We got a little better pressure on the quarter back than I had expected,” Barnes said. “We hit him, knocked him down and sacked him quite a few times.” Defensive Coordinator Charlie McBride agreed that the Huskers did a good job of pressur ing USM quarterback Jeff Kelly. “We did blitz a lot,” McBride said. “It worked out; they had some trouble protecting the weak side.” Vanden Bosch had only two tackles in the first two contests but had two sacks and a forced fum ble that resulted in a first-quarter touchdown for Jackson. “I knew my time would come,” Vanden Bosch said. “(The quarterback) just looked like a big hamburger out there. He didn’t see me coming ... and the ball popped loose.” Barnes said Vanden Bosch has improved each game. “He has shown improvement in both playing the run and rushing the passer,” Barnes said. “He’s strictly business when he gets on the field, and you can see on game days that he plays with a tremendous amount of emotion.” Barnes said. The inefficiency of the offense to sustain a drive forced the defense to suck it up when it was tired and worn down. While Barnes admitted that the defense did nothing “exotic” to stop Southern Miss, he did say that the defense dealt well with the shifts and for mations that the Golden Eagles threw at them. The various blitzes that NU brought against the USM offense allowed the rush ends to have a big game. That included Wills, who now has 18 tackles this season to rank third on the team. Wills has been the surprise of the defense this season. Barnes said, if there has been one. “Aaron is probably doing a little better than I ’anticipated,” Barnes said. “He came over to the rush ends when I got here, and prior to that he was a tight end.” Along with Vanden Bosch and Wills, the play of freshman Chris Kelsay has impressed Barnes. “Chris is the first guy to get onto the field,” Barnes said. “Chris has demonstrated that he is a ■little bit ahead of some of the younger guys.” at-aaaaaa——etat a————MBte.. .v.y. .y. .y, .vAttfl Lane Hickenbottom/DN TOP: NEBRASKA MEN tie with Air Force Academy for first-place honors in the 10th Annual Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational Cross Country Meet. The meet, which was held at Pioneers Park, featured more than 525 competitors. BOTTOM: HUSKER RUNNER Jeannette Zimmer, a sophomore, helps run Nebraska into second place at the cross country event. •& A»y,y,-fflrai&y«y-yfrtw.re«y