By Brad Zucker
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
San Diego goalkeeper Allison Worden showed off some impressive
athletic ability on a couple of spectacular plays during a Saturday
afternoon.
Then again, unlike her UCLA counterpart, she wasn’t being
constantly battered by a torrent of cleats and hard-charging
bodies.
"They beat the crap out of me," Bruin goalkeeper Lindsay Culp
said. "They were a lot more physical than we were."
Nonetheless, the freshman out of Santa Rosa, Calif.,
consistently slammed the door on the visiting Toreros, covering for
a UCLA offense that was also held scoreless in the double-overtime
contest.
Neither team attempted a shot on goal until the 20th minute of
the game. After the half, however, San Diego (3-2-1) controlled the
ball and pounded it toward the net, taking 19 shots compared to
UCLA’s (3-4-1) eight attempts.
And that spelled trouble for Culp.
Within the first five minutes of the second half, San Diego had
already attempted two shots on goal, just one shot less than the
Toreros’ entire first half total. The seemingly endless stream of
shots forced Culp to step up her own aggressiveness, a task that
might seem difficult for a first-year player competing with older,
more physically developed athletes.
"Age does make a difference," Culp said, sporting a large
abrasion on the right side of her waist. "The truth is that I do
get a little more intimidated than it shows."
But to anyone watching Saturday’s contest, the only apparent
emotion on Culp’s part was poise.
The rookie goalie found herself diving directly into oncoming
opponents, often sacrificing her body to snuff out numerous scoring
opportunities. San Diego’s sharp passing combined with UCLA’s lack
of cohesiveness kept the pressure on.
"We were really confused out there, especially in the midfield,"
Bruin head coach Joy Fawcett said.
Throughout the day the Bruins were almost completely unable to
mount any kind of an offensive attack.
In fact, the first decent scoring attempt for UCLA didn’t occur
until 22:08 into the first half, when Bruin scoring leader Traci
Arkenberg appeared to be breaking into the clear for a wide-open
shot but was called for being offsides.
In the waning minutes of the game, San Diego’s Worden put a lid
on UCLA’s hopes of pulling off a last moment victory.
Bruin midfielder Shannon Thomas made a great pass to Skylar
Little, who appeared to have an easy scoring opportunity on the
right side of the goal. But Worden dove to her left, fully
extending herself in midair to bat the ball out of bounds in an
incredible play.
"Both goalkeepers did a great job today," Fawcett said.
Culp just wishes it was a little bit easier.
* * *
UCLA (4-4-1) scored four first-half goals en route to a 5-1
upset victory over host UC Irvine (7-2-1) on Sunday afternoon.
Bruin all-time leading scorer Traci Arkenberg had 4 goals.
The Anteaters were the first team to score on the Bruins in four
games.