During the postseason, a reset button activates and every qualifying team enters the tournament with the possibility to become the national champion, regardless of the record it held during the regular season.
But for the UCLA women’s soccer team, the first round of NCAA play only solidified the consistency and dominance the Bruins have shown all season, as the team defeated San Diego State 3-0 at Drake Stadium on Friday night.
“We were very prepared going into (the match) and San Diego State was a very good team,” said junior midfielder Sam Mewis.
“We feel grateful that we get an opportunity to keep going in the tournament and I think we had a good team win today.”
Only 43 seconds into the match, the Bruins took possession of the ball and surprised the Aztec back line with a goal by Mewis, who was assisted by junior defender Caprice Dydasco and sophomore midfielder Kodi Lavrusky.
Mewis said that the team had been working on taking the lead early.
“(Coach Amanda Cromwell) had stressed that it was important to score early because it’s tournament and every team is going to come out and play so hard,” Mewis said.
“It’s almost like the longer it takes to score the harder it’s going to get, so(Lavrusky) pretty much just set it up right for me and all I had to do was tap it in.”
After Mewis’ goal, the Bruins continued to display an offensive attacking game, and 29 minutes later sophomore forward Taylor Smith netted the second goal of the match. In the second half, Lavrusky took a pass from freshman forward Darian Jenkins and curled a shot in to consolidate the win.
“From the very start (of the match) we were attacking (and) right away we got the goal within the first 45 seconds,” Lavrusky said.
“Every game we come out and play our hardest and our whole lineup, even our bench, has so much talent, and no matter who steps on the field it’s always consistent, and everyone on the team does their job so it works out.”
UCLA and San Diego State met back in September in Westwood where the Bruins pulled a 2-0 victory over the Aztecs.
Although the Bruins kept the Aztecs scoreless in their previous encounter, Cromwell said that teams come into the playoffs with a better level of play and higher intensity.
“I think that getting the goal in the first seconds is how you want to start,” Cromwell said.
“(San Diego State) is a very good team. They won their conference and coming in (they) have been very successful as of late, so all-around it was a good effort. … Playoff time is always a different level of play, there’s so much more at stake, it’s win or go home (and) the mentality is different … so you don’t want to let the teams sneak back in.”