Spying a loose ball in the 95th minute of the match, Ariana Martinez came flying in toward the box from her backline position, getting to the ball first before any of her opponents.
Still on the run, the freshman defender spotted freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond positioned deep inside the box. And in a matter of seconds, Martinez connected, and Richmond fired.
Almost immediately after the ball touched the net, the rest of the Bruins rushed toward the two freshmen in celebration, as No. 13 UCLA (4-1) upset No. 3 Notre Dame (4-1) 2-1 at Drake Stadium on Richmond’s second goal of the match in the fifth minute of overtime.
It was an impressive victory for the Bruins, who knew coming into the match that they would have their hands full going up against an offensive-minded team.
“Notre Dame is a very good team with a lot of attacking options and prowess,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “But I thought we battled tonight, and that’s the mental toughness that we’re going to need later on in the season, so I was very pleased.”
At the outset, UCLA came out the dominant team, keeping the ball in its possession for most of the first half. The Bruins had 10 shot attempts, while the Fighting Irish tallied just two in the half.
“In the first half, we came out on fire,” senior midfielder Kylie Wright said. “We were just ready to play. We were there mentally and physically, so we matched (Notre Dame’s) level of play really well.”
Richmond gave the Bruins the initial lead in the 20th minute of play. After the ball bounced her way off a deflection, Martinez crossed the ball in to her fellow freshman teammate, who nudged the ball past Notre Dame’s senior goalkeeper Nikki Weiss from close range.
But just as it seemed the Bruins would end the first half with the lead, the Fighting Irish responded, pulling even in the 45th minute on senior forward Erica Iantorno’s equalizer from just inside the box.
Notre Dame then seized the momentum at the start of the second period. The Irish showcased their offensive dynamics, moving the ball the length of the field with efficiency and prompting Ellis to go to her bench early on in the 45-minute frame.
“Part of it is that we want to get some of these players playing time against a great team, but another part is that it’s still in the early days (of the season),” Ellis said. “We’re a good 70-minute team right now, so the subs gave us a lift, and we had a pretty good rotation going.”
Both teams had their chances to score again in the 90th minute on corner kicks and from deep within the box, but neither was able to convert, giving way instead to the overtime period.
It was in those extra minutes that the duo of Richmond and Martinez hooked up again on the broken-up play in the 95th minute, the former scoring her second goal of the match and the latter getting her second assist of the night.
It was indeed the play of the freshman players that carried the Bruins to their 70th consecutive victory at Drake Stadium, currently the longest home winning streak in the country.
“We’re doing really well,” Richmond said of the freshman class. “We weren’t nervous coming into preseason because the girls made us feel welcome, so we’re just playing hard right now.”