Women’s soccer fails to make chances pay in tie against Arizona State

The strain was becoming more and more visible on the faces of both sides’ players as each minute passed.

However, the UCLA women’s soccer seemed to receive a spark when the second period of extra time commenced. The bleachers started to increase their volume, and you could hear the sense of distress from many of the player’s families. Despite this, it wasn’t enough for either side to create a decisive outcome.

Coming fresh off a 5-1 win against the Arizona Wildcats (8-3-1, 2-2-0 Pac-12) this past Saturday, the Bruins tied the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-7-1, 0-4-1) 1-1 at Drake Stadium Sunday afternoon.

“That was a tough, tough game. It was so hot and both teams were desperate for wins,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “I talked to the (ASU) coach since I know him well and we agreed that it’s kind of fitting that we ended in a tie since both teams have had some unlucky games this season, so really neither team deserved to lose.”

Within the first nine minutes of play, sophomore forward MacKenzie Cerda made a quick run up the left wing to find senior forward Kodi Lavrusky who smashed a shot from outside the box into the top right corner of the goal. However, just under five minutes later, the Bruins seemed to follow in the pattern that has recurred all season. ASU’s forward Jessica Raybe was fed an easy goal by teammate forward Cali Farquharson to end the short-lived UCLA lead.

The Bruins were outshot 16 to 12 and gave the Sun Devils more corners, but were able to hold the score even at 1-1 after 20 minutes of extra time.

“Ray Charles saw that one,” yelled a fan in reference to a missed handball call in the box. “Make ’em miss Kodi (Lavrusky).” These were all periodic phrases that were being yelled during the last minutes.

“We kind of fed off that energy and we had that sense of urgency,” Cromwell said. “I think we could have had it, these girls were just on their last legs.” Cromwell mentioned the lack of depth the Bruins faced this match, as they only used five substitutions to ASU’s nine.

With only six minutes of play left, senior forward/midfielder Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski was able to turn two ASU defenders off her back at the top of the box and ripped a shot that rocketed off the top bar. Redshirt sophomore defender Zoey Goralski was able to recover the miss and found a totally unmarked Lavrusky on the right wing. With no one but the keeper in front, the senior was unable to end the match in golden-goal fashion, having her shot barely blocked by ASU’s keeper. Lavrusky is just one of five seniors on a team that lost nine starters from last year’s NCAA semifinalist squad.

Tied with senior forward Taylor Smith for most goals, she did not fail to mention her faults despite her individual success in the match.

“Obviously we wanted to come out and get two wins this weekend but you know we’re fine with the tie. I just need to be better on those little chances closer to the goal,” Lavrusky said. “I won’t think about it much, I’ll just focus on the next game and move on.

The Bruins’ win against Arizona on Friday was essential for salvaging their season. Goralski said the team was strong in stopping their attack, after posting two assists against Arizona and an impressive all-around showing against ASU this Sunday.

“We did a good job of controlling their chances”, Goralski said. “We’re all optimistic. We’re growing as a team, and it’s gonna take some time, but there’s so much we can learn. We just have to learn how to play with each other, learn how to anticipate, and we’ll be headed in the right direction.”

Cromwell’s message on the outlook for the rest of the season has not changed going into the team’s next match against Oregon State on Saturday.

“We need to win games,” said Cromwell, laughing. “Postseason is our goal and that’s what we need to do. We have some great games ahead of us to get our RPI up.”