Despite Friday evening’s women’s soccer match being played on the No. 2 UCLA Bruins home turf, it certainly felt like we were in wet, gloomy Oregon.
After Los Angeles provided some early afternoon rains to make the Oregon Ducks (5-5-1, 0-2 Pac-12) feel right at home, the Bruins (9-0-1, 2-0 Pac-12) obliged by letting the Ducks dictate the pace of play for the first half before freshmen forward Kylie McCarthy’s late goal put UCLA up one at final whistle, 1-0.
“I think we came out flat. I sensed it in our warmup, that we were a little lethargic … At the end of the day, you can’t come out lethargic against good teams,” coach BJ Snow said after the game. “Oregon was a physical team, and they wanted to put their stamp on the game right away, and they did that. They made us uncomfortable a little bit.”
As discomfiting as the game might have been for UCLA and its fans, this team continued to show the moxie it has shown all season and pulled out a win, continuing UCLA’s undefeated start. As the game went on, the Bruins picked up their play, and found themselves receiving more opportunities in the Oregon end of the pitch, only missing goals because of stellar aggressive play by Oregon’s freshman keeper Abby Steele.
Set pieces were a key element for UCLA, who scored on one in the 80th minute and continually pounded the Oregon keeper late in the game. Unfortunately, UCLA also allowed Oregon to create off their own set pieces in the second half, and nearly paid for it.
Freshmen goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland was again strong in goal, as she will have to be from here on out with senior keeper Chante’ Sandiford out for the season with an injury. It is clear that UCLA has confidence in Rowland, as she had already been receiving the bulk of the work.
“We’re confident in all our players, everyone we put on the field,” McCarthy said. “Of course, I would love to have Chante’, too, but we just have to make the best of what we have.”
Losing Sandiford means a loss of experience, as she had been a fixture in net for past UCLA teams. However, this team has shown little regard for experience, both leaning on and receiving results from a talented group of true freshmen.
McCarthy herself nearly had a second goal near the end of the match, striking a ball from outside the box down the right sideline. The ball bounced off the top of the crossbar and down towards the goal line, but the referee ruled it in play and Oregon cleared.
Up next for the Bruins is No. 23 Oregon State on Sunday at 12:00pm, again at Drake Stadium.