With a loss and a draw already on its record, the UCLA women’s soccer team was hungry for a win.
The No. 7 Bruins (1-1-1) registered a victory Sunday night against Long Beach State (1-1-0) 4-0 at George Allen Field.
“The difference from (the 1-1 draw against San Diego) to today is just a little bit of hard work and some luck,” sophomore forward Sydney Leroux said. “I just think that after coming off a tie and after coming off a (7-2) loss to North Carolina, we knew we had to win this.”
Sophomore midfielder/defender Summer Williams sent a cross in the 21st minute to Leroux, who headed in the Bruins’ first goal. Williams received the assist four minutes after her substitution for freshman Zakiya Bywaters.
“I think scoring early helped settle the game for us,” coach Jill Ellis said. “Scoring early gave us some confidence. I can’t say we approached the game any different (compared to Friday’s match). We finished our chances and executed (tonight), and put the ball in the back of the net.”
Leroux scored UCLA’s second goal 16 seconds into the second half when she received a pass from senior forward Kristina Larsen and dribbled past 49er goalkeeper Emily Kingsborough to send the ball into an open net.
With tonight’s match, Leroux scored her third and fourth goals this season. Her first two goals of the season came in UCLA’s loss to North Carolina on Aug. 22.
The Bruins essentially put the game away in the second half, firing three more goals.
“The adjustments we made at halftime was trying to get the ball wide, and try and get us to the end line,” Ellis said. “I think we made better use of the width and that opened their team a bit.
“UCLA’s third goal of the match occurred when senior forward Lauren Cheney struck a ball in traffic in the 68th minute.
Like Williams, junior forward Liz Zadro came off the bench in the 85th minute and contributed right away, registering a one-time volley to the upper right of the net with an assist from senior defender Lauren Wilmoth three minutes later.
“We have amazing depth on our team,” Leroux said of Williams and Zadro. “Our whole team worked super hard ““ we all work for each other, which is an awesome feeling because we all want the exact same thing, the exact same results. When we have those players off the bench, they give us a spark that we tend to lose as the game goes on. … It’s awesome to be able to count on the starts and to count on the players off the bench.”
The game got chippy when Larsen and Cheney received yellow cards in the 23rd and 53rd minutes, respectively. Ellis said that Larsen was called for pulling an opponent’s jersey, and Cheney spoke to the referee after a Bruin took a heavy tackle.
“Both teams were going after the ball,” Ellis said. “It was a pretty physical game. I think (the yellow cards) were frustration fouls or frustration yellows more than anything. But it’s definitely something ““ we want to be able keep our composure on the field. We have to, especially for our players like that.”
The Bruins will travel to Champaign, Ill. on Friday to play against Illinois. To prepare, Ellis said that they will focus on breaking down teams individually this week in practice, doing one-on-one work offensively and defensively.
As for the win tonight, Ellis notes that it was a wonderful boost for the team.