No. 7 UCLA women’s soccer is racking up the numbers.
UCLA (4-0) went undefeated in their two-game homestand this week, taking down Santa Clara University 4-2 on Thursday, and UC Santa Barbara 3-1 on Sunday.
On Thursday all of the action was in the first half of the match.
Julie Doyle of Santa Clara scored the first goal of the game in the ninth minute – it was the first time the Bruins had trailed an opponent all year.
Redshirt sophomore forward Anika Rodriguez responded with the equalizer shortly thereafter and junior forward Hailie Mace wasted no time, following her teammate with three goals of her own to give the Bruins a 4-2 lead.
The Gauchos didn’t fare much better.
After Sunday against UCSB, UCLA had tallied a total of 17 goals in 2017, more in their first four Division 1 matches than in any other season.
The Gauchos had won both of their opening weekend matches, but were unable to carry the momentum into Sunday’s game.
The UCLA freshman class has seen five of its members earn starting positions in at least one game so far this season.
Among those freshman is midfielder Delanie Sheehan who helped open up the scoring early against UCSB. Both Sheehan and senior defender MacKenzie Cerda scored within the first 20 minutes against the Gauchos.
The strong freshman class is making it increasingly difficult for coach Amanda Cromwell to set a definitive starting lineup, and she said that there are more than 11 starters on her roster at the moment.
Later in the game, junior forward Julia Hernandez earned her fourth goal of the season to give the Bruins a 3-0 lead.
Though UCSB would eventually respond, they would only muster a single goal in the matchup, and UCLA extended their winning streak to four in a row.
UCLA has outscored their opponents 17-5 so far this season, and that’s not including the eight goal drubbing of CSU Bakersfield during their exhibition matches prior to their official season start.
UCLA will move on to face BYU on Friday.