The goal was to play two complete matches.
Two 3-0 victories later, the No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer
team (13-1, 3-0 Pac-10) can consider its weekend mission
accomplished.
With impressive showings at Oregon and Oregon State on Friday
and Sunday, respectively, the Bruins shook the habit of forcing
themselves to come back in matches, something the team had become
accustomed to in its last two matches after trailing both
Pepperdine and USC at halftime.
“We needed to break that habit, so it was really important
to get ahead early on,” said freshman forward Kara Lang, who
had two assists against Oregon and two goals against Oregon
State.
Lang scored in the 11th minute of Sunday’s match. UCLA
struck even earlier on Friday with a sixth-minute goal from
sophomore Danesha Adams, who leads the team with 12 goals after
also scoring against Oregon State.
The weekend, featuring opportunistic scoring, solid defending
and a number of Bruins contributing significant playing time, left
Bruin coach Jill Ellis very satisfied.
“Anytime you put six in and don’t give up any,
you’ve got to be super-pleased as a coach,” she
said.
Ellis said her team’s performances against Oregon (8-4-1,
0-3-0) and Oregon State (8-5-1, 1-2-1) proved that the two tough
come-from-behind wins against Pepperdine and USC were ultimately
beneficial.
“We were mentally ready,” Ellis said.
“We’re really starting to show great
character.”
After Adams got the Bruins on the scoreboard first on Friday,
senior defender Jill Oakes kept up her tremendous goal-scoring
form, scoring once in the 32nd minute and completing her brace in
the 73rd minute to put the Bruins up 3-0.
Oakes also scored the equalizer against USC on Oct. 7.
“We collectively put together two great halves in two
games,” Oakes said. “We had to concentrate on each
game, each half, each 15-minute segment.”
On Sunday, Lang gave the Beavers fits, heading in a cross from
defender Mary Castelanelli for her first goal and beating the
defense in the 53rd minute for her second goal of the day. Lang has
seven goals and five assists on the season.
“Kara had a very productive weekend,” Ellis
said.
The weekend was also very productive for the Bruins in terms of
the numbers of players who saw significant playing time. Freshman
goalkeeper Kelsey Davis of Thousand Oaks, the 10th-ranked recruit
in the country, played all 90 minutes against Oregon and played the
final 16 minutes against Oregon State.
“It was a great weekend,” Ellis said.
“Everyone contributed. Overall, it was just a very good
weekend for us as coaches and players.”
UCLA outshot Oregon 26-8 and Oregon State 15-4.
It is these kind of victories that leave a team satisfied,
dominating showings from start to finish. And while coming back
from a 2-0 deficit to beat rival USC 3-2 is fun and exciting for
fans, it’s pretty clear what kind of match Ellis prefers from
her team.
“We’ve got to start fast,” she said.
“We’ve got to play in the first half.”