The Bruins are headed to the Sweet 16 riding an 11-game winning streak.
No. 2 seed UCLA women’s soccer (16-3-1, 9-2-0 Pac-12) defeated Minnesota (12-9-2, 5-5-1 Big Ten) 5-0 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Friday.
“We were all creating angles for each other and moving all over the place to give ourselves the best opportunities to score and have dangerous attack in the final third,” said sophomore forward Ashley Sanchez.
The Bruins got on the board early with a goal from redshirt junior midfielder Chloe Castaneda in the fourth minute. Castaneda’s shot from the top of the box bounced through the legs of the Gopher keeper.
Sanchez assisted the following four goals in the match, moving her to eighth in UCLA career assists with 24.
“If I’m not hitting them on frame or my shooting’s just not on today then I just look for assists,” Sanchez said. “(The Minnesota defense) was stepping so high and flat that we were able to get in front of the ball, create an overload and then dish it over the top into the space.”
In the 28th minute Sanchez beat a defender on the wing before sending a cross into the box where sophomore midfielder Olivia Athens finished a rebound off of the Minnesota goalkeeper’s hands.
Seven minutes later, Sanchez put in another cross, where senior defender Hailie Mace was waiting at the back post to head it into the net.
“(Mace) works the whole game up and down the sideline – when she sees an opportunity, she’s going to go,” said sophomore defender Karina Rodriguez. “(Our defense) gives her the confidence to release and lets her know we’ll have a midfielder cover for her because when she releases we get good things.”
The Bruins have outscored their opponents 39-6 in the previous 11 matches and Sanchez has either scored or assisted 19 of those goals.
Coach Amanda Cromwell said Sanchez deserved a goal in the match.
“(Sanchez) is just magic on the ball – sometimes it’s almost unfair,” Cromwell said. “It’s unfortunate that she didn’t score because she kind of earned that, but she was involved in every goal it felt like.”
UCLA outshot Minnesota 14-0 in the first half, with eight on goal and three ending up in the back of the net.
With the Gophers held scoreless and four shots allowed in the match, the Bruins logged their 11th shutout this season with a defense led by Rodriguez and junior Kaiya McCullough, both of whom have started every game.
“They communicate really well and have a good sense of where the other one is,” Cromwell said. “With center backs, the partnership is so important so they know they have each other’s back and they have the pressure-cover scenario down.”
UCLA rotated in seven players from the bench starting in the 67th minute after only making two substitutions in the first half.
Senior forward Julia Hernandez extended the Bruin lead less than three minutes after entering the match for the first time in the second half and sophomore defender Kennedy Faulknor scored to end the game 5-0.
UCLA will face North Carolina State – which upset No. 3-seeded Santa Clara in penalty kicks – on Sunday at 6 p.m. PST.