With the Bruins locked in a scoreless tie with an unranked
Stanford team midway through the second half, senior Stacy
Lindstrom, one of the few upperclassmen starting for UCLA, stepped
up and called for a quick team meeting on the field.
The No. 4 Bruins had been playing with a lack of energy and were
a bit disorganized in trying to mount an effective attack against
the Cardinal before Lindstrom helped settle her team and
regroup.
Lindstrom’s veteran leadership paid off as she helped lead
UCLA (11-2-0, 2-0-0) to score a pair of late goals and beat
Stanford (7-5-1, 0-1-1), 2-0, on Sunday.
The victory capped off a successful weekend for the Bruins as
they easily defeated the No. 10 Cal Bears (7-2-3, 0-1-1) by a score
of 4-1 on Friday night in the Pac-10 season-opener for both
teams.
“It was a great weekend for us, with just the mentality
[we played with] both games,” said assistant coach Joe
Mallia. “Ninety minutes each game was awesome. It was the
kind of weekend we needed.”
Sunday’s game contrasted drastically with Friday’s
match, as Stanford appeared the aggressor for most of Sunday. That
is, until Lindstrom stepped up to help lead her team.
“(The onfield meeting) was just what we needed to regroup
on the field because we were playing kind of chaotic and not
playing our game,” Lindstrom said. “We just needed to
get on the same page. It gave us a minute to tell each other what
we could give each other.”
Whatever the team discussed worked, as the Bruins stepped up
with more energy and fire and began winning 50-50 balls on the
ground and in the air.
UCLA broke the scoreless tie just minutes afterward as junior
midfielder Danesha Adams chipped a beautiful shot just over the
Stanford goalie’s head from 25 yards out.
“Definitely I thought I was getting fouled and the girl
was ripping my shirt off, but at that point it was me to the
goal,” Adams said. “I just saw the goalkeeper was off
her line and I thought, “˜Why not and see what
happens?'”
Adams’ goal epitomized the physical nature of
Sunday’s game. With the referee making several questionable
calls, including sending Adams off for several minutes in the first
half for wearing a necklace, the game seemed to have the potential
to spiral out of control until Adams’ tally in the 80th
minute.
UCLA pounced on Stanford for another goal just four minutes
later as sophomore Christina DiMartino showed off her dribbling
skills by juking two defenders on the left side of the field before
burying a strike into the upper right corner of the net.
“Tina’s goal was just a phenomenal individual
effort,” Mallia said. “She’s one of the best, if
not the best, player in tight spaces.”
As the Bruins continue to field a lineup consisting mostly of
underclassmen, the freshmen continued to impress with their play
over the weekend.
Defender Lydia Cook got the first goal of her career against Cal
off an assist from fellow defender Lauren Switzer. Forward Lauren
Cheney also added two goals in the game to her team-leading total
of 10 on the year.
“I think this was a weekend (where) you saw the young
players mature,” Mallia said. “We’re 13 games in,
and those young players used those first 11 or 12 games to learn
and mature. That’s going to help us big-time down the
road.”
Friday’s game against Cal will be rebroadcast on Fox
Sports Net affiliates throughout the country beginning this week.
The Bruins will continue their Pac-10 schedule against USC on
Sunday.