Controlling a soccer match by having possession of the ball, outshooting the opponent, and having more opportunities to score, while important, do not determine a match. Goals do.
This is what the UCLA women’s soccer team learned on Monday after tying Washington 0-0 at the conclusion of two overtimes.
“I think we all are very happy with our possession and everything, but we’re pretty disappointed that we weren’t able to finish,” said junior defender Ally Courtnall. “We had a lot of chances that I feel normally we would put away, but today we just got unlucky, so I think we’re a little disappointed with that, but overall it wasn’t a bad performance at all.”
Like their match against the Cougars, the Bruins found themselves in a similar situation against the Huskies on Monday after a scoreless first half. But the match on Monday didn’t end with a win.
Coach Amanda Cromwell said that although UCLA created opportunities to score throughout the match, Washington blocked every shot the Bruins had and at the end the Huskies were able to secure a draw.
“They’re a very well organized defense and they got big athletic defenders,” Cromwell said. “They did a good job at cutting out some passes that we would have … and they’re very well coached. They’re one of the most organized defenses we’ve played all year. There were a couple (where) we were already celebrating … (but) it is the game of soccer sometimes, it’s the game we love to hate.”
Although the Bruins were more aggressive than the Huskies, Washington’s solid defense kept UCLA from scoring.
UCLA finished with 24 shots while Washington only attempted four. The Bruins also had seven corner kicks to the Huskies one.
But these are just statistics and what ultimately counts is the final score. Junior forward Rosie White said that there are times when the result doesn’t reflect the performance of the team.
“Sometimes it doesn’t click. We had a lot of opportunities and sometimes we weren’t hitting the ball cleanly and I think it was a combination of a few things,” White said. “I think we had a lot of new people out there in the first half and they did really awesome and in the second half we kind of dominated them the whole time. We had 24 shots to four so (it’s) really unfortunate not to finish a goal.”
Washington carried some momentum into the match on Monday after the team defeated USC in Trojan territory on Friday. The Huskies were able to sustain the same energy against the Bruins, who at times showed signs of tiring from the match against Washington State on Friday.
“Obviously we’re tired from (the match) against Washington State, but I just think that mentally we weren’t expecting the opportunities to get so close to the net,” Courtnall said. “I think that mentally we weren’t focused and like really believing we were going to score.”