Two Los Angeles powerhouse teams, two Olympic gold medalists, 7,804 raucous fans. But 2-1 turned out to be the magic number.
In front of dueling “UC! LA!” and “Let’s go Trojans!” chants and blaring trumpet sounds from the USC marching band, the No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer team (14-0-2, 5-0-0) conquered the No. 10 USC (12-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-10) by a score of 2-1 at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Friday night.
“For soccer, this is a really great environment having this many people come in to watch two great teams,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “It’s great especially in the Los Angeles area.”
Usually the first off the bench, junior forward Kristina Larsen scored both UCLA goals to avenge last season’s loss to USC, who halted the Bruins’ championship dream at the 2007 College Cup semifinals in College Station, Texas.
“We knew we had to go in, we knew we had to take it to them, we knew it was a rivalry,” Larsen said. “Definitely in the back of our minds was the College Cup ““ they beat us. We had to go in and beat them in their home stadium. It felt good; we knew we had to do that.”
UCLA took a 1-0 lead going into halftime. Once USC goalkeeper Kristin Olsen stepped away from the goal, senior midfielder Christina DiMartino fed the ball to Larson on the right of the box, who scored from 8 yards out to the left corner.
But within the first five minutes of the second half, USC equalized the game at one goal apiece. Trojan striker Megan Ohai received a centering pass from Nini Loucks and headed a ball that flew past UCLA goalkeeper Ashley Thompson.
“We came out not kind of right on our toes ““ they didn’t,” Larsen said. “That snapped us right out of it.”
In the 61st minute, after the Bruins received a series of corner kicks, junior defender Lauren Wilmoth launched a corner kick that allowed Larsen to drive a header into the goal and eventually seal the game for UCLA.
“(Larsen) has just been huge,” Ellis said. “The role she’s playing for us, and her confidence is high. Everything’s been clicking for her, and I couldn’t be more happy for her. Tonight ““ a huge contribution. Not even just the goals, but her energy as well lifted us. Obviously, the goals were a result of that, but I could see she’s a momentum changer for us.”
“I knew that every minute I was in there I knew I had to work hard, give a hundred percent,” Larsen said. “The goals came from just everyone, hard work all the way up to the finish.”
UCLA has won nine of the last 10 games against its crosstown rival. Its one loss took place during the College Cup semifinal last season.
“Last year was done and over with at the end of the last whistle,” Ellis said. “It’s all about this year, and we feel good about this year. So (I) hope we take something from this to store away again for further on down the line.”
Further on down the line might be as soon as next week when UCLA battles Bay Area schools California and No. 5 Stanford, who, like the Bruins, also remains undefeated this season.
CHENEY GOES DOWN: With about 17 minutes left in the game, junior forward Lauren Cheney, who played on the national team with USC’s Amy Rodriguez in the Olympics this summer, collided with a USC player and had to leave the game.
Ellis said that the Bruins needed to ride the wave through injuries like Cheney’s.
“Cheney is an amazing player,” Larsen said. “When she went out, it did take an aspect out of the game. But our entire team ““ we have great depth in our team, so someone was right in there to help bring back up the game.”