W. soccer demolishes USC again
Bruins win fourth in a row from ‘SC in 3-1 overtime win
By Hye Kwon
The UCLA women’s soccer team has never lost to USC in its short
history. The Bruins went into Wednesday afternoon’s match against
the Women of Troy with a 3-0 record.
It wasn’t easy, but the Bruins got their fourth win by beating
the Women of Troy, 3-1, in overtime on the North Soccer Field.
Forward Traci Arkenberg came out of her brief scoring slump and
scored two goals. Her first goal came in the 15th minute of the
match off of forward Michelle Lieberman’s centering pass.
"(Arkenberg) was asleep for a while but she came on strong,"
UCLA head coach Joy Fawcett said. "You can always count on her to
make something happen, whether an assist or a goal."
The Bruins (8-3-2 overall) thoroughly dominated the match in the
first half, outshooting the Trojans, 11-3, but the momentum was
shifting toward USC (8-4-2 overall) at the end of the second half.
USC’s Maggie Merritt got off three shots on goal in just seven
minutes, and on her third shot, which came at 73:20, Merritt scored
her sixth goal of the season.
"We were losing the 50-50 balls," Fawcett said. "I told the team
during halftime that if we win those balls, we would get
control."
At the beginning of the first overtime, the Bruins were indeed
winning the 50-50 balls, and they were getting great chances.
"I really liked the way we came out in the overtime," Fawcett
said. "We came out ready to play."
Arkenberg’s second goal came three minutes into the first
overtime when she kicked the ball into the empty net after
midfielder Melanie Hom’s shot bounced off of the left goalpost.
Arkenberg’s goal was her fifth game-winning goal of the season.
The insurance goal came with just two minutes to go in the
second overtime when Kelly Robson scored her first goal of the
season. The goal came when the fate of the match was pretty much
decided, but to Robson, the goal meant big things.
"I think it helped boost my confidence," Robson said. "This
helped me realize that I can still do it."