Time of possession does not win soccer games. No. 2 UCLA
(11-2-2, 6-1 Pac-10) found that out the hard way on Friday.
Despite the fact that the Bruins completely dictated the pace of
the game, Washington counterpunched their way to a 2-1 double
overtime victory. UCLA came back and handled Oregon State 2-0 on
Sunday.
“It’s disappointing when you lose games like
(Friday’s game),” UCLA head coach Tom Fitzgerald said.
“Especially when you have opportunities and you think you
should win, but ultimately you have to score goals to win and we
didn’t do that.”
During the first half of Friday’s game it appeared UCLA
was on its way to a victory. The Bruins seemed to control the pace
of the game, but Brett Wiesner was able to beat UCLA goalkeeper
Zach Wells from eight yards out to give Washington the lead.
UCLA forward Cliff McKinley evened the score in the second half
with a diving header off of an Adolfo Gregorio cross in the 62nd
minute.
The Bruins had numerous chances to go ahead late in the second
half. UCLA outshot Washington 12-3, but Tim Pierce, Jimmy Frazelle,
and Aaron Lopez were unable to convert on opportunities late in the
game.
Seventeen minutes into overtime play Washington sophomore C.J.
Klaas scored the golden goal off of a counterpunching breakaway to
give the Huskies the upset victory.
“The loss on Friday stung a little bit,” Wells said.
“We felt we got robbed because we were just a little unlucky
in our finishing.”
On Sunday the Bruins did not waste any time before making it
clear that they were looking for a repeat of the 3-0 drubbing they
laid on the Oregon State last weekend in Corvalis.
In the fourth minute Gregorio took a pass from Cliff McKinley
and took off down the right side of the field before cutting inside
and blasting a shot past OSU goalkeeper Peter Billmeyer from the
18-yard line.
“I just cut inside and waited for the goalie to come out
about two steps and get off balance and then I just slotted it past
him.” Gregorio said.
UCLA scored again when Billmeyer came out to challenge forward
Matt Taylor, and Taylor lobbed the ball over his head for the
goal.
OSU had a few goal scoring opportunities of its own, but
UCLA’s defense held the Beavers to just eight shots on
goal.
“We wanted to redeem ourselves because we didn’t
play up to par (on Friday),” defender Tony Lawson said.
“It was good to get back out here and show that we are the
team that we say we are.”
The aggressive goal keeping that Wells provided anchored the
strong collective defensive effort.
“I felt like I needed to come out today and really
establish a presence in the first 10 or 15 minutes,” Wells
said. “I tried to come for cross balls early and I really
tried to communicate and be loud. After the first 25 minutes or so
I really felt like I was in a groove.”
The Bruins were very pleased to be able to bounce back from
Friday’s loss with a victory on Sunday. Friday’s defeat
was their first conference loss, and it puts them in a tie for
first place in the conference.
“If we needed a jump-start for the end of the season I
think Friday’s game was it,” Fitzgerald said.
“Today was a much better performance and we’ve got some
tough games coming up next weekend.”
UCLA will travel to the Bay Area to take on Cal and Stanford
next weekend. When those two teams visited Los Angeles earlier in
the season the Bruins defeated Cal, 2-1, and topped then top-ranked
Stanford, 1-0, in overtime.