It’s been almost three years since the UCLA women’s soccer team was defeated by a Pac-12 team.
The last six minutes of Thursday’s match also marked the first conference loss of coach Amanda Cromwell’s UCLA career, as the unranked Bruins fell to the Washington Huskies 2-1, once again failing to win three consecutive games this season.
UCLA (5-5-0, 1-1-0 Pac-12), which seemed to be gaining ground after shutting out two teams without top-scorer senior forward Taylor Smith, was unable to continue the momentum against Washington (8-2-1, 1-1-0).
The match progressed slowly with the first goal coming in the 65th minute due to a competition between two well-matched goalkeepers.
UCLA’s Arielle Schechtman, a redshirt freshman, notched 10 saves for the evening, but was unable to stop a rebound shot by the Washington’s Kelcie Hedge. UCLA’s senior forward Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski immediately answered Hedge with her first goal for the season.
The game remained tied until there was only six minutes left to play when the ball deflected off UCLA senior defender Courtney Proctor, landing in perfect position for one of Washington’s leading scorers, Amanda Perez, to bury the winning goal.
Despite the loss, the Bruin offense took 10 shots in the second half, a dramatic increase from the two shots taken in the first and the five total taken against Oregon. This was an increased offensive effort that Cromwell said she wants out of the Bruin squad.
Though Cromwell stressed patience on offense, of the 12 shots taken, Husky goalkeeper Megan Kufeld was only forced to save four, exposing a lack of accurate shooting.
The Bruins have few days to rest before they continue their Pac-12 play on Sunday against Washington State.
Compiled by Nicole Becannon, Bruin Sports contributor.