A three-and-a-half-hour trip to Santa Barbara wasn’t
enough to slow down the No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer team.
Though their trip north was riddled with difficulties, the
Bruins’ play clearly wasn’t, as they put together a
dominating performance in a 5-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara last
night.
“The kids showed very good resolve,” coach Jill
Ellis said.
“When you spend over three hours on a bus, you’re
never sure what’s going to happen.”
What happened was a five-goal outburst from the Bruins (9-1) in
a game that saw five different UCLA players find the back of the
net.
It was the kind of game that left Ellis with only good things to
say, singling out the play of senior Jill Oakes and junior Stacy
Lindstrom as particularly impressive.
“Front to back we connected very well,” she
said.
Senior forward Iris Mora got the Bruins on the scoreboard first,
and sophomore forward Danesha Adams scored her eighth goal of the
season to make the score 2-0.
Another first-half goal, this one from junior defender Mary
Castelanelli, made the halftime score 3-0, and the rout was on.
“The whole team was ready to play,” Mora said.
The fact that the team was ready to play was certainly a
pleasant sight for Ellis, who had no idea how her team would
respond after the traffic-filled journey.
The start of the game was delayed by over an hour because of
UCLA’s traveling difficulties, a result of the fire in
Chatsworth, and the Bruins had only 20 minutes to warm up instead
of their customary 35.
But none of that much mattered in the end, as UCLA has
absolutely owned the Gauchos (5-6) in the last two meetings between
the teams. The Bruins beat UCSB 6-1 last season at Drake
Stadium.
Freshman forward Christina DeMartino scored the Bruins’
fourth goal Wednesday night, and sophomore midfielder Stephanie
Kron rounded out the scoring for the Bruins
The Bruins outshot the Gauchos 19-3.
“When you get there you just want to play,” Mora
said. “Things work out for a reason.”
UCLA will have the day off from practice today because of the
first day of school.
The team returns to the field on Sunday when the Bruins travel
to Malibu to take on No. 10 Pepperdine.