The UCLA women’s soccer team has been challenged on and off the field this season.
Last weekend, the Bruins dominated then-No. 15 Arizona 5-1 Friday night and managed a tie with unranked Arizona State Sunday.
The results, however, came without senior forward Taylor Smith, one of the team’s standout players. Smith was reportedly suspended for not adhering to team policies. At this time, it is unknown what policies Smith violated.
As the team works through its off-field issues, it continues to work through its weaknesses on the pitch as well.
The Bruins were unable to replace Smith with one single player, but they used a combination of subs as stopgaps.
Junior defender Alyssa Alarab said the team has been working on morale during practices, trying to find a way to come together. Echoing these sentiments was redshirt sophomore Zoey Goralski.
“Working as a team and growing as a team is our biggest issue,” Goralski said. “Once we get that down we’ll be great. We just have to learn to play with each other and I think we are headed in the right direction.”
After losing nine starters after last season, the team began the 2015 season with a young, fresh team. Many players made their first starts this season and new players have been a valuable asset to the team individually, as ten different Bruins have scored goals this season.
Even with Smith, one of the team’s leaders, sitting out four games so far, the team has rallied behind its depth, going 3-0-1 in those matches.
“You can point around to a lot of players who are stepping it up and that’s what we need,” coach Amanda Cromwell stated after Sunday’s game.
However, the struggles the team has faced this season – lack of combination play and effective crosses – may be a problem with teamwork and anticipating each other’s moves on the field.
Cromwell has been pushing an “us-against-the-world” mentality in order to facilitate team morale and curb the negativity that’s been present since the beginning of the season.
“I think it just started early on for the girls with all the negative press about all the graduates,” Cromwell said. “They felt all this negativity from the get-go and obviously not winning games we should probably win adds to that, so we just felt like we just have a chip on our shoulder.”
The team said it is optimistic that its new mentality and focus on working together as a unit will turn the season around.