Women’s soccer team falls to No. 1 Cardinal at Drake Stadium
The No. 13 UCLA women’s soccer team was defeated by No. 1 Stanford 2-0 on Sunday, bringing the Bruins’ record to 8-4-1.
UCLA 1
California 0
Stanford 2
UCLA 0
By Min Kang
Oct. 11, 2010 12:47 p.m.
Almost one year ago, Christen Press was the reason for the Bruins’ undoing.
Ten months removed from a fateful postseason showdown in which the Stanford forward buried the game-winning goal that thwarted UCLA’s bid to advance to the finals of the 2009 NCAA Women’s College Cup, Press foiled the No. 13 Bruins again.
After putting together a 1-0 win over No. 16 Cal (5-3-4, 0-2 Pac-10) on Friday, UCLA (8-4-1, 1-1) fell to No. 1 Stanford (11-0-2, 2-0) 2-0 Sunday at Drake Stadium, thanks in large part to an early goal from Press.
From the get-go, UCLA coach Jillian Ellis figured it was going to be a barometer match. After all, the trajectories of the two teams haven’t exactly been running parallel; while Stanford has yet to be defeated this season, UCLA is now four losses deep.
“This is a team that’s growing and has been in every big game, so now, we have to show up in the games that I think our players have overlooked in the course of the season,” Ellis said. “The challenge for us is to come out next weekend and be as focused and as hungry.”
The Cardinal’s first goal came in the 23rd minute after a controversial handball was called against the Bruins inside the box, resulting in a penalty kick that Press easily converted for her 16th goal on the year. It was an exasperating turn of events for UCLA, considering it had been playing Stanford tit-for-tat up until that point.
“We were frustrated because we knew we had this team,” sophomore defender Lucretia Lee said. “It was a simple goal that basically got given to them.”
More bad news struck the Bruins in the 31st minute when freshman midfielder Chelsea Braun went down in a heap after injuring her right knee. She did not return to the match and was on crutches.
To add insult to injury, Stanford recorded its insurance goal on a corner kick in the 36th minute when Cardinal midfielder Mariah Nogueira got to a loose ball and scored from six yards out.
The silver lining to the match came in the second half, when the Bruins executed a more even-keeled style of play, with both teams firing off five shots apiece in the second period.
“I don’t think the players were too disappointed in the result,” Ellis said. “As far as measuring ourselves, there were some good things for us.”
“We started attacking really hard again,” sophomore midfielder Chelsea Cline added. “With the chances that we were given, we just had that final pass that we needed to finish on.”
