Women’s soccer battles Cal to 1-1 draw off of last-minute goal

In the 89th minute, the Bruins were up against the wall. No. 14 Cal was on the verge of handing No. 11 UCLA its first loss in Pac-12 play.

Then, sixth-year senior forward Courtney Proctor pounced on a bouncing ball in the box and fired home to level the score at 1-1, where the game would end after two overtimes.

“It’s just an amazing feeling (to get the goal),” Proctor said. “We were knocking on the door the whole game – we controlled the game – so popping that final goal in to tie it was big. Another one would’ve been ideal.”

The Bruins (9-2-1, 3-0-1 Pac-12) opened the game with the upper hand and threatened to open the scoring very early on.

In the 11th minute, redshirt freshman attacking midfielder Anika Rodriguez was played through on goal. She attempted to round the goalkeeper Emily Boyd, but Boyd cleared the ball away before Rodriguez could fire off a shot.

The Bruins threw away other opportunities, however, by attempting one pass too many and allowing the Cal defenders to break up the attacking move.

“We had a lot of possession (early on), and we were hesitant to pull the trigger,” said UCLA coach Amanda Cromwell. “We were looking for that perfect pass and perfect goal. Cal did a really good job of getting numbers around the ball and protected the center of the field. We needed to switch the play or pull the trigger on a half-chance.”

The hesitancy to shoot led to a turnover in the 16th minute. Cal (10-2-1, 3-0-1) got it wide to forward Abigail Kim, who raced down the right wing and past junior left back MacKenzie Cerda. Kim played the ball into the center of the box, where forward Ifeoma Onumonu rushed in and zipped the ball into the net.

Cal built on the momentum provided by the goal and pressed for another. UCLA’s back line, however, tightened up and did not allow many gilt-edged chances. Whatever shots the Golden Bears could muster were unable to beat freshman goalkeeper Teagan Micah, who came up with five important saves on the night.

Much of the important defensive work came from the junior outside backs, Cerda and Zoey Goralski. Sophomore centerback Hailie Mace also stepped up with key tackles and charged forward on two occasions to inject some life in the attack.

“I thought our back line did a really good job,” Cromwell said. “This was one of Mace’s best games. She was awesome. Our outside backs had to work so hard because we ask them get into the attack and they had the speedsters to deal with.”

With the solid foundation at the back, UCLA continued to press for the equalizing goal. Some chances were disrupted by Cal’s physical play. The Golden Bears often resorted to pushing the Bruin attackers off the ball and were not punished with a yellow card until late in the second half.

“It’s been a bit of a pattern all season,” Cromwell said. “Defenders grabbing our jerseys early on and the refs not giving a card. In the second half, they gave their first yellow card when someone’s injured.”

With the clock ticking away, the game seemed destined for a 1-0 Cal victory.

Late on, freshman midfielder Jessie Fleming found space at the top of the box for a hard low shot, and Boyd kept the ball out with a diving fingertip save. Fleming, like her teammates, was visibly frustrated.

Boyd would end up with 11 saves, but she was unable to keep the clean sheet. Proctor got the big game-tying goal in the 90th minute.

“The goal was very important for morale,” Goralski said. “We had all of the momentum at that point, so if we didn’t get a goal, then it would have been frustrating for us. It was a huge confidence booster.”

In overtime, the chances were scarce, but freshman forward Sunny Dunphy was in a golden position to end the game 2-1. The shot, however, was saved by Boyd, and the Bruins came away with their first draw of the season.

“Cal’s goalkeeper had a really good night. Hats off to her,” Cromwell said. “But I thought we were unlucky not to win in overtime.”