For 89 minutes and 56 seconds, they outshot, outran, and
outplayed their opponents.
But for 89 minutes and 56 seconds, they had nothing but mere
moral victories and missed chances to show for their efforts.
And then, somehow, with three precious ticks remaining on the
clock in regulation time, the UCLA women’s soccer team broke
through. Sarah-Gayle Swanson found the back of the net for the
Bruins, as they defeated UNLV, 1-0, Friday night in Las Vegas.
In a game so completely and utterly dominated by No. 3 UCLA
(6-1-2), the last second goal elicited a gigantic sigh of
relief.
“Teams always seem to score in the last minute against
us,” defender Nandi Pryce said. “It was nice to be on
the other side.”
Swanson took a pass from forward Iris Mora and fired a shot from
10 yards out. The shot deflected off a UNLV player and past Rebel
goalkeeper Jenna Huff.
Unlike professional soccer, college soccer doesn’t have
stoppage of time. The official time is stopped only for injuries
and substitutions.
“They were actually counting down the seconds over the
loudspeaker,” head coach Jill Ellis said.
Though the Bruins didn’t score until the game’s
final seconds, they weren’t without chances. UCLA outshot
UNLV (6-5-1) 31-3 on the game.
“We bombarded them,” Ellis said.
However, many of the Bruins’ chances weren’t of the
highest quality. UNLV employed a defensive-minded strategy to
counter the Bruins’ play.
“They put so many players behind the ball,” Ellis
said. “They were very defensive in posture.
“Teams that aren’t as talented or as technical will
try that to stay in the game with us. We’re just going to
have to get used to it.”
As a program moving up in notoriety, the Bruins are beginning to
grow used to the things that accompany that notoriety.
Friday’s game at Peter Johann Field on the UNLV campus was
“Break the Attendance Record Night” for the
Runnin’ Rebels’ women’s soccer program.
The 1,664 fans who showed up for the game shattered the previous
mark of 1,117, set Oct. 14, 1999 against BYU.
“They were advertising our game on the radio,” Pryce
said. “It was the biggest thing going on. As a program,
we’re just getting used to teams having us as the big
game.”
“It was a hostile crowd and a tough environment,”
Ellis described. “The crowd got into it. They were yelling
“˜overrated’ at us.”
In the end, however, the “overrated” tag just
didn’t hold.
“It wasn’t a pretty game,” Ellis said.
“They bunkered in against us and handcuffed us a little
bit.
“The officiating played into the physical nature of the
game. Both coaches were frustrated, and both teams were
frustrated.”
Only 15 fouls were called in the game, and UCLA had two goals
called back because of offsides.
Midfielder Stacy Lindstrom led the Bruins with eight shots, five
of which were on goal. UCLA goalkeeper Arianna Criscione recorded a
shutout without making a save.
“If there’s one positive thing that will come out of
this game,” Ellis said, “it’s that we’re
never ever going to feel like we’re out of time.”