Energized by the return of one star striker and seeking to take advantage of the absence of another, the UCLA women’s soccer team accomplished what it could not exactly one week ago.
With a late goal from junior forward Sydney Leroux, No. 13 UCLA (8-3-1, 1-0 Pac-10) edged past No. 16 Cal (5-2-4, 0-1) 1-0 in its Pac-10 opener at Drake Stadium on Friday after getting shut out in its previous match against Pepperdine last week.
It marked Leroux’s first game back with the Bruins since she left the team on Sept. 19 to train with the full U.S. Women’s National Team. Leroux did not make the roster for the two U.S. exhibition matches against China on Saturday and Wednesday. However, Cal’s senior forward Alex Morgan, the only other college player invited to camp, suited up for the U.S. squad on Wednesday and was unable to return to her collegiate team in time for Friday’s game.
Still, the Golden Bears ““ sans Morgan ““ created several scoring opportunities throughout the match, at one point initiating a series in which they fired off three consecutive shots from close range in the 22nd minute that were ultimately cleared out of the box by Bruin defenders.
With the scoreboard still knotted at 0-0 going into halftime, the match remained scoreless until Leroux converted on her fifth shot attempt of the game in the 83rd minute. After receiving a cross into the box from freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond, Leroux found herself open just enough to send the ball streaking into the right side of the post for the game-winner.
With a successful conference debut now in the books, the Bruins return to Drake Stadium on Sunday for arguably their biggest game of the season: a rematch against Stanford, the same team that eliminated UCLA from the NCAA Women’s College Cup last season.