For the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s game against the Oregon Ducks, the UCLA women’s soccer team did not look like the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
The team’s play was apprehensive, chaotic and shaky. Passes were not completed, touches were off, and plays did not fully develop. Absent was the offensive fluidity that had grown to become synonymous with the Bruins’ style of play thus far this season.
But then, as has happened so often throughout the season, sophomore forward Lauren Cheney changed the game with one flick of her neon blue right boot.
Cheney’s goal in the 24th minute of the first half gave the Bruins (9-1-2, 2-0 Pac-10) a 1-0 lead over the Ducks (7-6, 0-2) and seemed to turn on the lights in the Bruins’ heads as the team cruised to a 3-0 victory.
“Starting off, it was a little chaotic,” Cheney said. “Oregon came out pressing us and giving us all they had. So we weathered storm, and once we calmed down, I think we played really good soccer.”
Acting coach B.J. Snow was equally pleased with the way the Bruins were able to overcome their slow start to finish the game in strong fashion.
“It was a good win for us,” Snow said. “I think that we started a little slow but after about 15 minutes we started to develop a rhythm as a team and knocking the ball a little bit. We play some pretty good soccer when we are able to knock the ball, pass, and move, so I was pretty pleased with the way we played.”
In addition to the goal by Cheney, the sophomore also connected with forward Danesha Adams on a brilliantly executed give-and-go combination for a goal.
“I think that once we settled down and got the ball on the ground, connected a few passes, I think the leadership on our team really picked it up,” Snow said. “Once we got that first goal, it really gave us some confidence to start knocking the ball.”
About six minutes after Cheney scored her first goal, midfielder Caitlyn Mac Kechnie stepped onto the field for the first time in the match. Mac Kechnie has been a source of consistency and production off the bench this season, scoring three goals and notching six assists. She continued her production Sunday, putting the Bruins ahead by two on her first touch of the match. Cheney found a running Mac Kechnie with a beautifully placed through pass, which drew the goalkeeper off her line. Mac Kechnie then put the ball in the back of the net.
“Coming off the bench, it’s important to get in there and try and change the game,” Mac Kechnie said. “It’s kind of my job off the bench, and so I kind of connected with Cheney and caught her eyes. She was dribbling and I just made that run through and it was a perfectly timed ball and run.”
Seemingly lost among the Bruin offensive juggernaut has been the stellar job of the defense in shutting down the opposition’s offensive attack. In the last six games, the Bruins have allowed only three goals, including two consecutive shutouts in Pac-10 play.
“The defense is playing great right now,” Snow said. “When Erin Hardy went down with the injury, it caused all four of them, Cat (Calvert), Dea (Cook), Loo (Lauren Barnes) and Wilmy (Lauren Wilmoth), to really step their games up. And they have been absolutely tremendous the last three weeks. So it’s really given them a lot of confidence leading into conference play.”
The win over Oregon held a little extra source of meaning. Last year in a cold and rainy affair in Eugene, the Ducks handed the Bruins their only conference loss of the season, a 2-1 loss in double overtime. Needless to say, Bruin players were happy to enact a little bit of revenge against the Ducks.
“They beat us on their home field last year and it was raining and they just outplayed us,” Cheney said. “So this year, being on our home field, to get a good win is always satisfying.”