On a special Senior Day at Drake Stadium on Sunday, the UCLA
women’s soccer team provided yet another special finish to a
match, as forward Danesha Adams scored with 30 seconds remaining in
regulation to give her team a 2-1 victory over Arizona State and
the outright Pac-10 title.
It was another nail-biter for the No. 4 Bruins (17-1-2, 7-0-2
Pac-10), who with Sunday’s victory have now won three
straight conference titles.
“We always fight until the end,” said Adams, who
leads the team with 15 goals. “That’s what we’re
always going to do.”
On Friday night, UCLA needed double overtime to post a 2-1
victory over Arizona. Freshman McCall Zerboni provided the late
drama in that match, scoring in the 105th minute to put UCLA in a
position to hold off California and win the Pac-10 title outright
on Sunday.
“It showed a lot of character,” UCLA coach Jill
Ellis said. “This team battles. They’re dangerous in
the 90th minute or the 105th minute.
“Teams that play us know we’re never really out of
it.”
UCLA has proven that time and time again this season, and with
the NCAA Tournament set to begin Friday, the Bruins know the
experience can only help.
“I think we’ve been in every possible situation that
could be out there that we could face,” senior defender Jill
Oakes said. “This is what we’ve been waiting for the
whole year. We wanted to win the Pac-10, we wanted to win all our
games ““ now this is the Big Dance.”
For Oakes and fellow senior Iris Mora, Sunday marked the final
regular season game of their illustrious Bruin careers.
Oakes has been an anchor of the Bruin midfield and defense
throughout her career, while Mora will leave UCLA as the
school’s all-time assists leader.
“I’ve kind of pinned my hopes and dreams on those
two over the four years, and they haven’t
disappointed,” Ellis said. “I’m just very, very
proud of them.”
Sunday’s match saw Mora in typical form, frustrating the
Sun Devil defense with her feisty play and incredible on-ball
control, dishing off two more assists to bring her season total to
11.
UCLA’s first goal Sunday came in the 15th minute, as Mora
played a ball forward to freshman forward Kara Lang, who had no
trouble blasting it by the Arizona State keeper for her ninth goal
of the season.
Though the Bruins controlled the majority of play in the first
half, Arizona State appeared re-energized in the second half,
creating chance after chance and breaking through in the 57th
minute with a game-tying goal from midfielder Brittany Cooper.
With the game in the balance and the conference title on the
line, the final 30 minutes were quite tense. Oakes had a chance to
put the Bruins up in the 87th minute, but sent a shot over the
crossbar.
The Sun Devils had an incredible opportunity at the 89-minute
mark, missing just wide of the right post.
But in the end, it was the Bruins’ determination that
prevailed. Following the Arizona State miss, Stacy Lindstrom played
a goal kick forward to Mora, who flicked it on to Adams. Adams
simply outran the defense to give her team the victory a mere 30
seconds from time.
“I saw the clock and we still had 40 seconds,” Mora
said. “I thought, “˜We’re going to score
here.’ That’s seriously what I thought.”
That attitude and confidence are important reasons why UCLA has
had so much success this season. And it’s that attitude the
Bruins hope will take them to a national title.
“We had a couple of shaky weekends, (but) now we got the
Pac-10 under our belts, and we’re here to win it,”
Adams said.