UCLA d. Oregon 2-0 Oregon St.
d. UCLA 2-1
By Michelle Coppolella
Daily Bruin Reporter
Despite cruising past Oregon on Friday night with a 2-0 shutout
victory, the No. 3 UCLA women’s soccer team was dealt a
lethal blow from Oregon State on Sunday as it fell to the Beavers
2-1, serving the Bruins their first Pac-10 loss of the season.
“You go forth with the same mentality, attitude and effort
every week, but sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it
doesn’t,” head coach Jillian Ellis said.
Friday night’s play consisted of quick offensive action
that thwarted the Ducks’ defense in the first 15 minutes of
play. The Bruins (13-2-0, 4-1-0 Pac-10) struck in the fifth minute
when Oregon goalkeeper Sarah Peters misjudged a shot taken by
forward Sarah-Gayle Swanson. From 18 yards out, the ball glided
into the left hand corner of the net to give UCLA a 1-0 lead.
Only 10 minutes later, midfielder Whitney Jones served a
beautifully executed pass to midfielder Breana Boling, who eluded
the Ducks defense and launched a rocket into the back of the net
from less than 10 yards out. The goalkeeping skills of freshman
Sarah Lombardo, who started her first game of the season for UCLA,
and senior CiCi Peterson kept the Ducks (7-7-1, 1-5-0) scoreless
for the rest of the game and ensured the victory for the
Bruins.
Despite the fact that UCLA outshot OSU 33-10, Beaver goalkeeper
Jo Fletcher kept the Bruin offense from penetrating the goal with a
career-high 16 saves.
The Beavers (8-7-1, 1-5-0) scored in the first half and silenced
the UCLA offense despite its 14 shots. Second-half action reared
yet another goal for OSU and looked to spur the Beavers to their
first win against UCLA since 1995. But Boling struck in the 87th
minute after a pass from defender Nandi Pryce, revitalizing the
Bruin offense.
Unfortunately, it proved to be too little, too late as the
Beavers held on to preserve the victory with a 2-1 win over the
Bruins.
“We came off three or four games where we really
hadn’t played great soccer,” Ellis said. “Today
we really did play better soccer, but that’s the nature of or
game ““ sometimes you outplay teams and you don’t
win.”
The Bruins will have to win their remaining three games against
Washington, Cal and Stanford, to capture the Pac-10 title.
Sixth-ranked Stanford looks to pose the most immediate threat to
UCLA, but Ellis is confident that the Pac-10 title is within their
reach.
“We obviously want to win and we are very capable of doing
so,” Ellis said. “It’s just a matter of getting
the ball into the back of the net.”