Two days ago, Emily Zaplatosch had a pretty good idea where she
would be Wednesday night ““ at home studying.
But instead of preparing for a midterm, she found herself in
goal for the second half of the UCLA women’s soccer
team’s 5-0 win over Loyola Marymount at Drake Stadium.
“I was a little nervous at first,” Zaplatosch said.
“But after the first couple minutes, I kind of settled in
with the team and felt more confident out there.”
Zaplatosch, the starting catcher for the UCLA women’s
softball team, hadn’t played in a soccer game for about two
and a half years prior to her 35-minute appearance Wednesday
night.
Though she was an All-State goalkeeper at Horizon High School in
Scottsdale, Ariz., Zaplatosch came to UCLA thinking she would only
be playing softball.
That is, until a series of unfortunate circumstances befell the
Bruins’ goalkeeping corps.
In dire need of a back-up goalkeeper for starter Arianna
Criscione, coach Jill Ellis contacted softball coach Sue Enquist on
Tuesday morning, who then talked to Zaplatosch. By Wednesday night,
the sophomore was on the field.
“It all happened pretty quick,” she said.
So did the Bruins’ scoring.
Sophomore forward Iris Mora got UCLA on the board first, putting
in a 10-yard shot in the fifth minute. She scored her second four
minutes later, and the rout was on.
“The first 20 minutes it was kind of like a clinic,”
Ellis said. “Our possession was fantastic, and we were
finishing. It was just really good chemistry on the
field.”
By halftime, junior Kendal Billingsley and senior Sarah-Gayle
Swanson had made the score 4-0, setting the stage for Zaplatosch to
take the field at the beginning of the second half.
“We were hoping to get her a little bit of time, so the
comfort level is there if she has to step into a game,” Ellis
said.
Zaplatosch’s confidence was probably boosted by her
softball teammates, who showed up en masse to support their
catcher.
At halftime, as Zaplatosch was warming up, the softball players
in the crowd gave her standing ovations with every save and kick
she made.
“Just about the whole team was here, so it was cool that
they all came out,” she said. “Just to hear them up
there supporting me is nice.”
The game was nice, too, for the Bruins, as their scoring
explosion continued. UCLA has now registered 13 goals in its last
three games.
“It was a nice performance,” Ellis said.
“It’s great to just keep continuing how we’ve
been playing.”