It was a successful weekend for the No. 4 UCLA women’s
soccer team (14-1-1, 4-0-1 Pac-10) unless you measure success
strictly by wins and losses or, in this case, ties.
The Bruins thoroughly dominated both of their matches Friday and
Sunday against Washington and Washington State, respectively, but
achieved two very different results.
After recording a 4-0 victory against Washington (0-14-3, 0-6)
and seemingly scoring at will, the Bruins could not find the back
of the net against the Washington State Cougars, (8-7-2, 1-4-1)
playing them to a 0-0 tie in double overtime.
“Overall it was a good weekend,” UCLA coach Jill
Ellis said. “I think this will motivate us for the upcoming
weekend. We’re at a point where we’ve won a lot of
games but (the game against Washington State) is not sitting well
and I like that because it means we’re going to be focused
(in the future).”
Washington entered Friday’s match winless, and a
high-powered Bruin offense made sure it stayed that way. Four
different players netted goals and 20 players saw action, including
three goalkeepers.
Danesha Adams added to her team-leading total with her 13th goal
of the year, while freshman forward Blake Zerboni tallied the first
goal of her career. Freshman Kara Lang and senior Iris Mora also
scored for the Bruins.
But it is Sunday’s tie with Washington State that will
stick in the minds of UCLA’s players and coaches.
Although the Bruins thoroughly dominated the Cougars,
outshooting them 27-3, UCLA was not able to find the back of the
net and had to settle for its first tie of the season.
It was only the second time of the year that the Bruins did not
record a goal.
“Its pretty frustrating when you look at the board and we
out-shot them by that much,” said junior Stacy Lindstrom.
“Sometimes (shots) are meant to go in; sometimes
they’re not. It just happens.”
“It was a frustrating game in a lot of ways,” said
Ellis. “I thought we did everything we could do
today.”
Washington State employed a conservative defensive strategy,
often backing all its players into the defensive end of the field
in order to slow down the Bruin offense.
“When a team puts 11 players in the box, its tough,”
said Ellis. “We have to get used to it.”
Although UCLA faced waves of defenders on Sunday, the Bruins
managed to create several quality scoring chances. They just
appeared snakebitten as they missed out on goals throughout the
match.
“I think we hit every post and every crossbar, but
that’s the way the game goes,” said senior Jill Oakes.
“It’s just a matter of hitting the back of the net next
time.”
Even though the Bruins were frustrated with their inability to
finish, they remained optimistic and looked to the game with
Washington State as an opportunity to prepare for the future.
“It’s a good thing we had a game like this,”
added Oakes. “Teams are going to pack it in and wait for that
lucky break. It’s a tactic that a lot of teams play, so
it’s good that we’re facing it now so we’ll be
ready for it in the future.”