When sophomore forward Kristina Larsen stepped onto the field Friday night for the No. 1-seeded UCLA women’s soccer team in its first NCAA Tournament game against Cal State Fullerton, she was feeling some big-game nerves.
Larsen was filling in for Pac-10 Player of the Year Lauren Cheney, who had to sit out the game because of a red card she received in the team’s regular-season finale.
“I was pretty nervous,” Larsen said. “Cheney’s a pretty impactful player.”
Luckily for the Bruins, those nerves didn’t slow Larsen down one bit.
After just five minutes of action, Larsen scored UCLA’s first goal of the postseason on a pass from junior Christina DiMartino.
“Instant relief,” Larsen said. “I was so excited. It just felt so good.”
From there, the Bruins (17-1-2) never looked back, defeating Cal State Fullerton by a final score of 3-1.
Three minutes after its first successful strike of the game, UCLA tallied another goal, again with the help of DiMartino, who found junior McCall Zerboni on a cross from the right side.
With a two-goal lead, however, coach Jill Ellis felt that her team let up slightly on the attack and allowed the Titans (12-8-2) into the game.
DiMartino and her teammates also noticed the decreased pressure on the offensive end for the remainder of the first half.
“It gets hard because you slack off a little, which we kind of did a little in the first half,” she said.
The junior from New York scored the final goal for the Bruins on a penalty kick after senior Alma Playle was taken down by a Titan defender in the box. DiMartino finished with two assists and one goal.
In Cheney’s absence, Ellis felt that senior Danesha Adams, redshirt sophomore Kara Lang, DiMartino and Larsen all stepped up and took on the role of putting UCLA on the scoreboard.
The depth that this year’s squad has is something that Ellis feels is essential for a good showing in the NCAA Championships.
“The depth is one of the keys to having a good run, and this year we’re as deep as we’ve ever been as far as personnel coming in off the bench,” Ellis said.
The Bruins’ depth allowed Ellis to give freshman Kylie Wright some rest after having used her for nearly 90 minutes a game in her first season with the team.
“Kylie hasn’t really rested at all this year,” Ellis said. “We just felt like we needed to get her a little rest.”
Come Sunday, however, UCLA will be at full strength with the return of Cheney now that she has served her one-game suspension.
From here on out, the Bruins know that the competition will only become tougher and that each player’s presence will greatly increase the team’s chances of capturing the program’s first national championship.
“One game at a time,” Larsen said. “This one’s behind us and now we’re looking at the next game.”