Scoring two goals in your first collegiate game could be
considered lucky. But repeating that feat two days later is no
fluke.
Freshman forward Danesha Adams scored both of UCLA’s goals
against LMU on Sunday to give the No. 9 Bruins a hard-earned 2-1
win over the Lions at LMU’s Sullivan Field.
“She’s done very well so far but the key for her is
that she has a great complement of players around her,” said
UCLA coach Jill Ellis. “She’s someone who is going to
grow especially with the players around her.”
Adams put the Bruins on the board in the second minute as she
calmly gathered a rebound and slotted a shot past Lions’
goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro after senior Lindsay Greco cracked a shot
from 18 yards out that hit the crossbar and bounced fortuitously to
Adams.
However, LMU would see that luck swing back to its side. A
Lions’ corner kick in the eighth minute created chaos in the
penalty area and when the dust settled, the ball had bounced to
Jennifer Horn on an unsuccessful clearance attempt by the Bruins
resulting in an easy 12-yard goal by Horn.
For the remainder of the first half and 20 minutes into the
second half, LMU controlled the tempo of the match, denying the
Bruin forwards any attempts to gather in long balls from the
defense.
“Their defense played very well, we were playing a lot of
long balls and we could not settle the ball down at all,”
Adams said. “When they scored, we lost our possession game
and coach Ellis had to tell us to slow down.”
The Lions also had some success in attack, as they were able to
penetrate the Bruins’ defense and force freshman goalkeeper
Valerie Henderson to make tough saves.
“I think in the defense we could have played better after
we got a surprise goal that was unlucky, but we picked it back up
in the second half,” Henderson said.
Henderson had to move quickly across the goal and dive to her
right to tip away a shot by LMU’s Jamie Bell in the 48th
minute. Then in the 52nd minute a scramble in front of the net was
stopped by Henderson’s quick feet as she got a foot on a low
shot seemingly destined for the back of the net. Henderson’s
heroics kept the game tied at 1-1, which paved the way for
Adams’ game-winning second goal in the 78th minute.
After a poor clearance from the LMU defense caused by Adams,
Bruin junior midfielder Jill Oakes sent a perfect pass to a
streaking Bristyn Davis on the left side of the field, just before
the beginning of the penalty area. Davis easily beat an LMU
defender and slid a shot past Yukihiro. The ball appeared to be
going into the net, but like a seasoned veteran, Adams rushed to
the ball and slid to make sure Davis’ shot went in, knocking
the ball into the open net.
Things were much easier on Friday night at Drake Stadium as the
Bruins easily dispatched San Diego 4-0. Adams and Davis both scored
two goals and four different players recorded assists against the
hapless Toreros.
The team played both games without forward Iris Mora, the
team’s leading goal scorer from a year ago. Mora, a member of
the Mexican National Team, returns from Athens, Greece, this week
but will not rejoin the team for several weeks.