It was the same story that had played out so many times before. The same movie, with the same script and a familiar cast of characters. Maybe some of the details were changed, but ultimately the ending was no different.
But there was still plenty of drama on the field at Drake Stadium as the top-ranked UCLA women’s soccer team took on the No. 9 USC Women of Troy on Friday night.
The game between the two teams was similar to many that have come before: a tightly contested match filled with hard fouls and stifling defense that ended in a 2-0 triumph for the Bruins (12-1-2, 5-0 Pac-10). The victory was the team’s eighth consecutive win over the Trojans (11-2-2, 3-1-1).
While the Bruins hold a sizeable advantage over the Trojans in terms of overall record (16-2-1), the games against USC have been anything but easy.
That fact was on full display in the opening minutes of Friday night’s game, as the Trojans came out in full force, preventing the Bruins from developing a rhythm offensively. As a result, the Bruins’ style of play seemed broken and hesitant.
“We came out in a shape to kind of put some pressure on them,” Coach Jill Ellis said. “But I think we kind of expected that. We knew that the first 20 minutes, it wasn’t going to be a whole lot of soccer, it was just going to be about momentum.”
Sophomore forward Lauren Cheney attributed the slow start to the style the Trojans played early.
“I definitely think the slow start had to do with how USC came out,” Cheney said. “They came out so hard. Every game against USC is going to be a battle.”
But as has happened so often thus far this season, something clicked, as if the lights in the collective heads of the Bruin players switched on.
That moment came early in the second half. With the score tied at 0-0 and the Bruins beginning to build some offensive momentum, Cheney and senior forward Danesha Adams combined for one of the most sensational goals of the season. In the 51st minute, Adams received the ball near the top of the 18-yard box and chipped a pass over the defense to a streaking Cheney, who one-timed the ball inside the upper-left post for a 1-0 lead and Cheney’s conference-leading 17th goal of the season.
“That was as sweet as (any goal) if you have seen some goals,” Ellis said. “That’s just two high-class players connecting. It was a fantastic play and a fantastic finish.”
Cheney added to her stellar season with an assist to sophomore forward Kara Lang in the 65th minute, which gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead that would hold the rest of the game.
“Right now, I think that we are starting to click,” Cheney said. “You know, we’ve found our rhythm, whatever you want to call it. We’re playing good soccer. I think we can definitely step up and play even better than this, but we came together and got it done.”
It would be a difficult task for the Bruins to improve on the defensive end of the ball. Through five Pac-10 games, the Bruins have yet to concede a goal, a staggering statistic considering the level of competition in the Pac-10.
“I think that we are just coming out and playing tough,” senior goalkeeper Valerie Henderson said, who notched her school-record 35th shutout Friday. “Everybody is doing their job and going in hard on the players, being a little bit smarter, making the right decisions and staying organized. It’s really important that we are communicating to each other.”
At the midway point of the conference season, with a 5-0 record and a 14-consecutive-game unbeaten streak, the Bruins seem to be running smoothly on all cylinders.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Ellis said. “I think that we are playing very well. I mean, we’re just kind of clicking. We kind of talked about if one or two players is playing well, what would we be like if everybody was on their game. I think that we are starting to gradually creep to that point. I don’t think that every player has played their best game yet. But it’s good. It’s good to be in this position right now, but four games left, it’s still a lot of road to get across.”
INJURY UPDATE: Two Bruins went down with injuries on Friday night. Midfielder Catherine Calvert sustained a back injury, while midfielder Caitlyn Mac Kechnie suffered a possible right knee sprain.