Anybody who was anybody had taken a shot on USC goalkeeper Julie
Peterson.
Fourteen times the highly touted stars of the Bruins’
high-octane offense tried. But again and again, they missed.
That is, until somebody who had been a nobody found the upper
right corner of the net.
Crystal James, a sophomore reserve who had seen action in only
seven previous matches and had just five shots to her credit, took
a Jill Oakes pass, put a little move on a USC defender, and fired
the ball at the last moment possible.
It got by Peterson to put the Bruins (12-3, 4-1 Pac-10) on the
board and launch them to a 2-0 victory over cross-town rival USC
(8-5-3, 3-2) at McAlister Field.
“I was just trying to get the shot off,” said James.
“You always hope for the perfect shot, and it
came.”
The goal, coming in the 37th minute, capped a one-sided first
half that saw the Bruins outshoot the Women of Troy 16-2.
“They just outplayed us today,” USC head coach Jim
Millinder said. “The first half was our worst half of the
entire year, but playing them probably had something to do with
it.”
Time and again the Bruin back line stood in front of USC
chances, took 50/50 balls and soared to control the air. The
backline duo of junior Nandi Pryce and sophomore Kendal
Billingsley, along with junior Whitney Jones in the center of the
field, took the air out of most possible USC breaks.
UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis, on her way after the match to see
UCLA freshman Iris Mora play for the Mexican National Team at the
Rose Bowl, had high praise for her defense.
“Whitney Jones is the most dominant player in the air that
I’ve seen in college soccer this year,” she said.
“And Kendal defends really well but also gets forward up the
field. It allows her to control on both sides of the
ball.”
Freshman Stacy Lindstrom scored the second goal, a 64th minute
header off a pass from defender Amy Fazio. When USC did get a rare
chance, Bruin goalkeeper Sarah Lombardo was equal to the task,
jumping to force a USC penalty kick over the crossbar and coming
out of the box to stop several rushes.
The Bruins came in without the services of Mora and junior
midfielder Sarah-Gayle Swanson, who is still nursing an ankle
sprain she suffered against Stanford two weeks ago.
Their absences allowed James and other reserves to see
significantly more playing time, and they responded with solid
contributions to the Bruins’ overall calm ball control and
energetic runs.
All of which makes Ellis very happy, especially with just two
weekends left in the regular season.
“This is a good time to start hitting our stride,”
she said.