Just 12 minutes into Sunday’s match between UCLA and Cal State Northridge, junior midfielder Charney Burk initiated the kind of sequence that would dictate the flow of the Bruins’ game plan time and time again.
Sensing an opportunity, Burk rushed in to intercept the ball on a goal kick from CSUN and sent the stolen nugget to senior midfielder and Daily Bruin photographer Dana Wall. From her position just inside the right side of the penalty box, Wall then used a stutter step to shed her defender before crossing the ball to sophomore forward Zakiya Bywaters, who promptly found net.
It was this quick transition game that netted the Bruins’ first of four goals, and the No. 11 UCLA women’s soccer team (3-1) wound up cruising past CSUN (2-3) 4-1 on Sunday in its Drake Stadium debut.
Unlike the prior weekend in which they recorded just one goal and 15 shots over two games, the Bruins were increasingly active as the game progressed, totaling 27 shots and 15 corner kicks against the Matadors.
“It’s about getting the players in the position they’re comfortable in and letting them go, and I think we saw a lot of good movement from our midfield,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “Overall, our possession was very good, and that’s directly tied to how much work we got off the ball.”
Despite UCLA’s early activity, CSUN had its moments as well, eventually tying the score in the 34th minute with senior midfielder Erin Kelly’s equalizer on a free kick from 30 yards out.
But if the two teams were evenly matched in the first 45 minutes of the game, the Bruins reappeared with newfound vigor in the second half, thanks to a halftime reconvening with Ellis.
“Jill told us that we needed to have the mentality and work on our transition,” Bywaters said. “We needed to be a lot more disciplined, and transitioning was our weak point because (CSUN) threw a lot of counterattacks at us, and we were getting back too late.”
The second-half results proved that the necessary adjustments were made. The Bruins scored three more goals after the halftime period, including junior forward Sydney Leroux’s go-ahead goal in the 53rd minute on a corner kick from senior defender Lauren Barnes.
Senior midfielder Kylie Wright notched her first goal of the season in the 77th minute on yet another corner kick from Barnes in her second assist of the game.
One minute later, freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond scored UCLA’s fourth and final goal on a header from 15 yards out to close out the game.
By game’s end, the UCLA defense put the clamps down on the Matadors, denying the opponents a single-shot attempt in the second period to keep the ball on just one side of the field.
“We came out and moved for each other and played together, which helped us keep the ball in the second half,” freshman defender Ariana Martinez said. “Our transition to move back into defense and offense really helped us on our counterattacks.”