Trailing by two goals against rival USC, the halftime locker
room was quiet.
Things weren’t supposed to start like that for the No. 4
Bruins, unbeaten in the last eight matches between the schools,
unbeaten at home in the cross-town rivalry, and favorites once
again Friday.
There was introspection and questioning in that locker room,
when there needed to be something entirely different.
“I said to them, “˜The one thing we have to have is
hope and belief,'” UCLA coach Jill Ellis said.
“”˜If you don’t have hope right now, you need
to walk out of this locker room. If you do, stick it in here, and
we can get this done.'”
Every one of the Bruins decided to stick around, and a quiet
locker room became a loud and proud second-half display, as the
Bruins drew level in one frantic second-half minute before forward
Iris Mora won the game, 3-2, with a golden goal in double
overtime.
“I was totally confident,” senior defender Jill
Oakes said. “I had no doubts that we were going to pull it
through, but it was just a matter of trying to instill that feeling
into everyone else.
“I was trying to keep everybody motivated and focused and
positive, because I knew it was going to happen.”
The way the young Trojans began the match, it appeared that they
were the team that was motivated and focused, intent on making an
emphatic statement to the rest of the country.
Trojan midfielder Stacey Strong, one of six starting freshmen
from the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class, stunned the
Bruins (11-1, 1-0 Pac-10) with a goal in the second minute, and
freshman forward Nini Loucks doubled her team’s total with a
goal in the 29th minute. USC (6-4-1, 0-1) made the most of its two
first-half shots and entered halftime with the surprising lead.
“It was tough emotionally because we were so up for the
game,” Ellis said.
“After the second one I could see that it was going to be
an uphill slog.”
But the Bruins appeared to be a different team in the second
half, playing crisp, confident soccer, creating numerous chances
and eventually breaking the Trojans down with a two-goal flurry in
the 53rd minute.
“That was definitely the most heart I’ve seen come
out of our team, and some of the best soccer,” Oakes
said.
Redshirt junior midfielder Stacy Lindstrom struck first for the
Bruins at 52:16, knocking in a rebound from six yards out.
Twenty-seven seconds later, it was Oakes, rising above the
Trojan defense to head a cross from Mora past the USC goalkeeper.
And like that, the Bruins were tied.
“At halftime it was kind of quiet, but as soon as (Ellis)
instilled in us that we need to have hope and believe in it, we
realized we could do it,” Lindstrom said.
After the Bruins had equalized, the only work left to do was
push for a win.
Mora provided the late drama, taking a cross from junior
defender Bristyn Davis in the center of the box, chesting it down
and blasting the ball into the left-side netting for the win.
“Sometimes you just feel it,” Mora said.
“You just want one moment, one shot, and I was ready to
take it.”
For the Bruins, Mora’s goal sealed an epic comeback and
allowed the team to let out a collective sigh of relief. Though
UCLA out shot the Trojans 24-6, each one of USC’s shots was a
high-quality goal-scoring opportunity.
“It’s always a barn burner with them, and that was
one of the all-time bests,” Ellis said.
For the second consecutive game UCLA fell behind early but
rallied late, refusing to give up hope.
“I’m proud of my team,” Mora said.
“We came out in the second half so hard. We played
together, and when we play together, nobody can stop us.”