The No. 7 UCLA women’s soccer team had a successful
weekend in Arizona, notching two more Pac-10 victories by defeating
Arizona 1-0 in Tucson on Friday night and Arizona State 3-0 in
Tempe on Sunday afternoon.
The Bruins (11-3, 3-1 Pac-10) established offensive pressure
early in Friday’s game, outshooting the Wildcats in the first
half 11-1. Arizona goalie Natalie Juarez was able to keep UCLA from
getting one in the back of the net by notching five first-half
saves.
Juarez needed help from her defense to stave off a Bruin attack
in the 34th minute. She tipped away a shot by freshman midfielder
Jill Oakes that was heading into the goal before it was cleared out
by Arizona defender Jennifer Klein.
The game stayed scoreless until the second half when the Bruins
were finally able to put one in on a penalty kick taken by Oakes at
the 67:46 mark. UCLA was awarded the penalty kick when freshman
midfielder Allie True was tripped up from behind inside the Arizona
penalty box.
The UCLA defense was dominating all throughout the match as
Arizona (5-7-1, 0-3 Pac-10) managed only two shots the whole
game.
The Bruins enjoyed a more complete game on Sunday afternoon
against a stronger opponent in Arizona State. UCLA survived an
early scare when Arizona State’s Patrice Fulner got behind
the Bruin backline and went one-on-one with sophomore goalie Sarah
Lombardo; her shot sailed just outside the left post.
The Bruins missed out on a number of scoring chances in the
first half, most notably an Oakes shot from 15 yards out that went
off the top of the crossbar.
The game remained scoreless in the first half. Finally, in the
55th minute, freshman midfielder Stacey Lindstrom launched a corner
kick from the left side toward the goal that was finished by a
header from sophomore defender Kendal Billingsley.
UCLA scored again in the 70th minute when sophomore defender
Michelle Mangiardi took a pass from sophomore forward Lindsay Greco
in front of the box and put it past Sun Devil goalkeeper Kelly
Fitzgerald.
Nine minutes later the Bruins added their final goal when
Lindstrom, on a feed from sophomore forward Crystal James, scored
from 15 yards out in the upper right corner to put the game away.
The Sun Devils (8-3-2, 1-2 Pac-10) were shut out for the first time
in 23 matches and were out-shot by the Bruins 19-6.
The team could not be reached for comment following the
game.