Senior Zakiya Bywaters scored two goals for the Bruins on Friday against the Huskies. The game was cancelled in the 58th minute because of severe lightning storms.
The season got off to an unusual start for the Bruins.
While the women’s soccer team played two games this weekend, only one went down in the books.
UCLA won on Sunday at Massachusetts, 2-1. Friday’s game at Connecticut, however, was a different story.
In the first half, the Bruins were down 2-0. The Huskies had control, and to top it all off, a lightning storm was brewing.
Then, from almost 20 feet away, senior midfielder Zakiya Bywaters managed to fight off three defenders and score, putting UCLA on the board.
By the second half, the Bruins were only down by one, thanks to another goal from Bywaters.
At that point, according to sophomore Ally Courtnall, they were confident that they could win.
But then, in the 58th minute, referees stopped play because of lightning storms, and it never resumed.
Since the game was cancelled, no score was recorded and UCLA started its season 0-0-0.
“I think that we were a little frustrated because … we were finally playing our game, not their game,” Courtnall, a defender, said of Friday’s outing.
After the disappointment of Friday, Courtnall said that the team decided to move on and pretend as though it had never happened.
On Sunday at Massachusetts, UCLA moved up to 1-0-0 after the win.
Courtnall made it clear before the season that what the Bruins needed to work on most was defense.
On Sunday, it looked as though the Bruins had worked on that issue, only allowing Massachusetts to get in eight shots, while the Bruins had 29.
They did, however, allow seven of those eight in the second half, which coach B.J. Snow was less than pleased about.
“We really had them on their heels, but I was disappointed that in the last few minutes of the first half, we did let that back in,” said Snow.
It wasn’t just the East Coast weather that had the Bruins taken aback.
The time difference, along with unusually high grass in both Connecticut and Massachusetts, was rough on the team.
The grass disrupted their play, especially in a game so dependent on speed and definition of ball movement.
“We’re getting used to each other, dealing with the grass here and moving the ball around,” Bywaters said.
“We just had to stay calm and focused on what we needed to do.”
This weekend, the Bruins return to the greener pastures of the West Coast, with games at Fresno State and at home against Illinois.
“It’ll be nice to be home, with fans actually rooting for us instead of against us,” Courtnall said.
UCLA is a young team ““ Snow estimated that they might even be the youngest team in the country.
Several freshmen got a chance to make their Bruin debuts this weekend, giving UCLA a chance to show off their depth.
“The freshmen did really well, and the overall performance gave us a really good idea of what we’re working with this season,” Snow said.
While it was an unusual weekend to say the least, Courtnall is pleased with what she saw from her teammates, and she’s ready to move forward.
“I think we’re ready for this season,” Courtnall said. “We’re more than ready to play our next opponent.”