The original Starbucks and the Space Needle were among some of the landmarks that the UCLA women’s soccer team visited last weekend in Seattle. But there was one other thing that the city’s known for that managed to creep its way into the team’s agenda – rain.
And there was lots of it.
“The rain was coming down, and the field was muddy, but we still had to play through it and play our game and do the best we could with the conditions it was in,” said senior defender Megan Oyster.
But Sunday’s 6-0 win over the Washington Huskies wasn’t the only time the No. 1 Bruins (17-0-2, 9-0-1 Pac-12) had to deal with a less-than-ideal pitch. Just two days earlier, the Bruins had to play on similar conditions in Pullman, Wash., this time against the Cougars (10-4-3, 5-4-1).
Friday’s win over No. 22 Washington State didn’t just give UCLA three points toward the Pac-12 standings – it also primed the team for another round of sloppy conditions against No. 17 Washington (12-6-1, 5-4-1).
And on Sunday, the Bruins came prepared. Or at least, they made sure their cleats did.
“We all had studs on so we weren’t slipping as much as our game on Friday against Washington State. It was just a giant mud puddle with mud flying everywhere,” said senior forward Kylie McCarthy. “I think I had mud the whole first half.”
One of the several moments where the firmer grip played to the Bruins’ advantage came in the 88th minute, when McCarthy made a quick turn with the ball to dash past two defenders and begin dribbling toward the penalty box. Once she was in range, the forward placed a shot that bypassed both the last defender and goalkeeper to score the sixth and final goal for the Bruins.
With only one game left in the regular season, UCLA seems to be peaking at the right moment – the team’s 14 goals in the past three games before the weekend have given the team enough clout to claim the title of the ninth-best scoring offense in the country.
And this weekend’s 3.5 goals per game will only boost the Bruins’ season average of 2.65 entering the weekend.
While the Bruin offense has been making a slow creep into upper echelons of the country, their defense has remained rock solid and currently remains No. 1 in the nation – something they’ve managed to build upon with back-to-back clean sheets in Washington.
According to coach Amanda Cromwell, her team’s ability to keep clean sheets on the muddy fields of Oregon and Washington serve as testimony for the country’s top defense.
“It’s more easy to give up goals as well as mistakes in these kinds of conditions,” Cromwell said. “It’s actually quite remarkable that these four games in this kind of weather have been shutouts.”