The Bruins will conclude the home portion of their schedule over the weekend.
No. 5 UCLA women’s soccer (8-1-1, 5-1-0 Pac-12) will host Washington State (5-1-1, 1-0-1) on Friday night before closing out its four-game homestand Sunday afternoon against No. 19 Washington (7-1-2, 3-1-2). Following the NCAA’s announcement that the 2021 Division I men’s and women’s soccer tournaments will be held entirely in North Carolina, these two fixtures will be the last played at Wallis Annenberg Stadium this season and last ever for the departing seniors.
“I can’t believe it’s already the last home games,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “I was wishing there were going to be postseason games at Annenberg because it’s such a great place to play, but I get the postseason bubble. This senior class has been an amazing class. The fact that they decided to come back and play when they had other things going on – including pro careers – says a lot about who they are as people.”
Senior midfielder Delanie Sheehan, who was drafted by Sky Blue FC in the National Women’s Soccer League Draft in January, said she is feeling mixed emotions ahead of the weekend.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet,” Sheehan said. “I’m obviously excited for the next chapter but it’s always tough to think about it being your last home game ever at UCLA.”
Following their first defeat of the season at the hands of Arizona State, the top-of-the-table Bruins will face off against the conference’s fourth- and fifth-placed teams in points per game in Washington State and Washington, respectively.
Another of the team’s seniors expressed excitement for the weekend after the blue and gold’s first loss.
“Last week, we didn’t get the result we wanted,” said redshirt senior defender Jacey Pederson. “So going into this weekend, we know we have two tough opponents but it’s going to be a good challenge for us and a good way for us to get back on our feet. So I think we’re all excited about it.”
The Cougars have only played seven matches because of four COVID-19 forced cancellations in early March, but they boast a .786% winning percentage and remain undefeated in conference play through two contests. Washington State holds the second-best defensive record among Pac-12 squads by allowing an average of 0.57 goals per game.
The Cougars’ only loss of the season came to the Huskies – the best defensive team in the conference and the Bruins’ Sunday opponent – in a nonconference meeting.
The Huskies have edged out the Cougars and Bruins for the best defensive mark, conceding five goals over 10 games for an average of 0.50 goals per game. Like Washington State and UCLA, Washington has only lost one contest this season, a 1-0 defeat to then-No. 21 Stanford. Since then, the Huskies have won three straight and have yet to concede more than one goal in a match so far this year.
“They’re both really good games – always dangerous,” Cromwell said. “They offer different challenges but they’re both very good. We always want to change things up with how we’re attacking teams. (We) got to keep possession but also look for ways to be more creative with our numbers-up scenarios.”
After a perfect start through its first eight matches, UCLA tied USC 2-2 on March 18 in a nonconference bout and fell 2-1 to Arizona State in overtime March 26. The Bruins have surrendered four goals in their past two games after limiting their opponents to three goals in the season’s first 729 minutes of action.
“All the teams we’ve played against have done different things to challenge us in different ways,” Pederson said. “We’ve done a good job of shutting down their game plan for the most part. It coming back to us shooting ourselves in the own foot kind of sucks but at the same time it’s reassuring knowing it’s something we can fix and not a breakdown of the team.”
Sheehan and Pederson are two of five seniors that will be honored for Senior Day on Sunday, joining defenders Karina Rodriguez and Lucy Parker and midfielder Viviana Villacorta – who has been sidelined all year after tearing her ACL in the season opener.
“I’m excited to play and leave my mark on the Wallis Annenberg field,” Pederson said. “Excited for my fellow seniors as well, to get a chance to play their final (home) games. It’s been an honor and I’m excited to see what we have in store for us after these two games.”
