After four games played in the season, UCLA went into the match against North Carolina on Friday with confidence after having notched two victories against Marquette and Notre Dame, two top-20 opponents, the previous week.
UCLA had allowed only one goal coming into the match, but the game against top-ranked North Carolina required a career performance from junior goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland and the rest of the team.
Rowland had a career-high seven saves, but her strong performance could not help the Bruins elude their first loss of the season.
Although both teams displayed some offensive prowess in their previous encounters, North Carolina controlled the match, outshooting UCLA 23-6 to take the match 1-0.
The defending NCAA champions had the opportunity to open the score early on, but a solid performance from Rowland kept a scoreless tie until North Carolina’s senior midfielder Crystal Dunn buried a shot from 10 yards out into the lower right corner at the 79th minute to give North Carolina the win.
However, the loss against the Tar Heels didn’t discourage the Bruins too much, as the team captured a 2-1 win over Duke to finish its participation at the Duke Nike Classic.
UCLA took a page out of its week one playbook, scoring in the opening 10 minutes of the game to go up 1-0. The goal came from junior forward Rosie White, who took a pass from sophomore forward Taylor Smith. This was the second goal of the year for White.
The score remained in favor of the Bruins at the conclusion of the first 45 minutes. But late in the second half, freshman forward Darian Jenkins sealed the win for the Bruins, scoring after Duke’s goalkeeper came out of the box and left the net open for Jenkins to score her fifth goal of the season.
Duke’s late and solitary goal came via penalty kick with four seconds remaining in the match. Rowland had another strong performance, making four saves.
The Bruins will now return home after securing three victories and one loss against ranked competition.
Compiled by Susana Vazquez, Bruins Sports contributor.
