The UCLA women’s soccer team kept things rolling over the weekend, notching their seventh and eighth-straight wins over local opponents on the road.
The No. 3 Bruins shut out Cal State Northridge 2-0 on Friday and then got tested against UC Santa Barbara, prevailing with a 3-1 win.
In the process, the Bruins improved to 8-1-1 and as always, kept their eye on the ultimate goal.
“It’s two Southern California teams that could potentially see in the (NCAA) tournament so we wanted to make a statement nice and early,” redshirt junior Jenna Belcher said.
Belcher was responsible for the game-winning goal in the 50th minute against UCSB. After the Bruins took an early lead with a goal in the fifth minute from sophomore forward Sydney Leroux, the team, coach Jillian Ellis said, let its guard down, allowing Santa Barbara to score a goal of its own.
One halftime lecture later, the Bruins came out on fire with Belcher scoring her first career goal off a corner kick from junior Lauren Barnes within the first five minutes of the half.
“Today I thought we played some of the best soccer we played in the second half,” Ellis said. “I thought today in the first half we were poor. Couldn’t take care of the ball, not a whole lot of movement. We scored early and then seemed disinterested. Santa Barbara came back at us. We (the coaches) got after them (UCLA) a little bit at halftime and their response was terrific.”
While the team is pleased with the set of wins, if they hope to be in the national championships, senior forward Kristina Larsen said they will need to iron out any let downs, similar to what they did on Sunday.
“We do not want any let downs whatsoever,” Larsen said. “We need to win every single game. There are no if ands or buts about it.”
In the process of extending its winning streak to eight, UCLA was again able to get several players into the game. Ellis used nine substitutions to help players deal with the heat on Friday against Northridge and used six in Sunday’s contest in Santa Barbara.
As is becoming a trend, Ellis started four freshmen, Zakiya Bywaters, Ahsha Smith, Chelsea Cline and Lucretia Lee on Sunday, all of whom played 70 minutes or more.
The senior Larsen was very impressed.
“They all just stepped up so much for us,” she said. “They really just played like they’ve been playing here a couple years.”
And the team knows they will need the freshmen to continue to step up, if they hope snap their six-year losing streak in the College Cup.
Belcher said, “At the end of the day, when it comes to tournament time … we’ve got to have players who have experience coming off the bench.”
Lang injured
Redshirt senior forward Kara Lang, one of the captains of the women’s soccer team, sustained an injury to her knee Friday against Northridge.
According to assiatant coach B.J. Snow, the Canadian Olympian injured herself making a cut on the field, without any contact from another player.
Lang was evaluated by team doctors Friday, and word regarding her injury is expected Monday.
Check dailybruin.com today for an update on Lang’s injury.