Another game, another overtime.
For the fourth straight game and sixth time this season, No. 14 UCLA women’s soccer (11-3-1, 5-1-1 Pac-12) saw the match go past the regulation 90 minutes.
Unranked Washington (6-9-1, 1-6-0) pushed UCLA into overtime, where freshman midfielder Jessie Fleming scored her second goal of the game in the 97th minute to hand the Bruins a 3-2 victory.
“I’m sick of overtime games, but I’m not sick of winning,” said coach Amanda Cromwell.
When the game started, overtime looked completely out of the picture.
UCLA jumped out to a quick two-goal lead on a Washington team that appeared overmatched.
In the fifth minute, senior forward Courtney Proctor got free near the right edge of the box. She took a few touches and sent a low cross back across the face of the goal for Fleming to tap in her ninth goal of the season.
[Related: Jessie Fleming builds on her track and hockey roots on the soccer pitch]
The Bruins kept the pressure up after that and were rewarded with a second goal two minutes later.
Junior midfielder Gabbi Miranda slipped in a through ball that found senior forward Amber Munerlyn streaking in from behind. Munerlyn knocked the ball into the net.
At this point, the game seemed destined for a lopsided UCLA victory.
Then, it all came crumbling down.
“We were so good in the first 10 minutes,” Cromwell said. “I felt like we just lost momentum. We gave up a bad goal – we had a bad giveaway in the back – and we didn’t respond well the rest of the half.”
The Huskies built on the momentum gained from their first goal and pushed for an equalizer. They didn’t have to wait long to get it.
A cross was sent into the box, and the Bruins failed to clear it. The ball fell to a Huskies’ player, and she equalized the score in the 29th minute.
“I think we needed to be sharper on defense and a little more careful,” said junior right back Zoey Goralski. “We kind of fell asleep to be honest.”
All of a sudden, things didn’t look so rosy for UCLA.
“We kind of took the pedal off the gas and our intensity dropped and we stopped communicating,” Fleming said. “We picked it back up in the second half, but we can’t have 30-minute lulls of play.”
The Bruins’ defensive deficiency and sputtering offensive play led to a shift in tactics to start the second half.
Instead of the usual 4-1-3-2, the Bruins lined up in a 3-5-2 – a formation designed to create mismatches and numbers on the wings.
“I thought the matchups (in a 3-5-2) would work pretty well,” Cromwell said. “It was a different look to catch the other team off-guard. Sometimes it’s hard to defend against two forwards and two wingers.”
The results were positive. UCLA dominated possession and forced Washington back into their own third for extended stretches.
Goals and big chances, however, remained few and far between. The best opportunity came from Proctor, who stung the post with a venomous strike.
Later on, redshirt freshman attacking midfielder Anika Rodriguez was through on goal, but her first touch let her down and the ball rolled tamely into the Huskies’ goalkeeper’s gloves.
On top of that, the Bruins went for the Hollywood ball often, negating many attacking moves.
The game went into overtime and UCLA picked up right where they left off and dictated the game.
Then, Goralski got free on the wing and sent a long cross into the box that Fleming zipped onto and headed home to end the game.
[Related: UCLA’s defense a big contributor on offense]
“I think everyone was a bit relieved (with the goal),” Fleming said. “We’ve played too many overtimes recently. The delivery was perfect, and I snuck into the back post and put it away.”
In the end, the game was far from ideal for the Bruins. Still, they got the result.
“One thing about this team – we’re super resilient,” Cromwell said. “We may not play well, but we always keep pushing.”