Despite sending a barrage of shots at San Diego’s goal at Torero Stadium tonight, the UCLA women’s soccer team was unable to come out with a win as the No.7 Bruins landed in a 1-1 stalemate with the No.15 Toreros.
UCLA’s only goal occurred in the 30th minute when redshirt senior forward Kara Lang launched a cross to senior forward Kristina Larsen, who one-timed a shot into San Diego’s net.
A UCLA foul allowed the Torero forward/midfielder Christine Mock to convert a penalty kick in the 26th minute.
Redshirt sophomore Chante Sandiford, who did not play in the Bruins 7-2 loss against North Carolina, started this match and made five saves.
“Chante was spectacular,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “It was her first college start, first college game, got stitches in her face, took a cleat to her face, she played on. She was certainly our MVP tonight.”
Both goals came in the first half of contest. The match was all tied up at the end of regulation and went to two overtime periods.
“We worked really hard, we had a bunch of opportunities, but I think it’s that little extra effort ““ that little extra push to get that goal in,” Larsen said. “We were connecting well, we had our opportunities, we just had to finish them.”
The Bruins played aggressively during the match. Larsen, who received a yellow card in the 91st minute at the start of the first overtime period, launched five shots on the night, including two shots on goal.
“I wanted to go hard and go to every ball,” Larsen said. “I guess it was a little unfortunate, but it didn’t stop me from anything.”
Throughout the match, a number of UCLA players, including Larsen, senior forward Lauren Cheney and sophomore forward Sydney Leroux, took turns firing at San Diego’s goal. Some shots were off the mark, but Torero goalkeeper Courtney Parsons prevented further Bruin scoring by making 11 saves.
Ellis said that there were a lot of positives to take from this game, but going into Sunday’s 5 p.m. match at Long Beach State’s home field, the Bruins will need to work on their flank play.
“We just need to be a little more connected and in sync with that,” Ellis said. “Tomorrow is about recovery, getting our legs back, getting our players in a good mindset.”