UCLA women’s soccer to head to Oregon in last road trip of regular season
Senior midfielder Jessie Fleming has started 14 of 16 games for No. 13 UCLA women’s soccer – missing two while away with the Canadian National Team. Fleming sits tied for fourth in both goals and assists for the Bruins, with two and four, respectively. (Alice Naland/Daily Bruin staff)
Women's Soccer
Oregon State
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Corvallis, Oregon
Pac-12 Networks
Oregon
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Eugene, Oregon
Pac-12 Plus Live Stream
By Matthew Kenney
Oct. 31, 2019 1:17 a.m.
The Bruins will take their final road trip of the regular season.
No. 13 UCLA women’s soccer (11-4-1, 5-3-0 Pac-12) will travel north to face Oregon State (10-4-2, 2-4-2) on Thursday and Oregon (5-6-5, 1-5-2) on Sunday. The Bruins have a 7-1 record at Wallis Annenberg Stadium this season but a 3-3 record on the road.
“We’ve had a couple of struggles on the road,” said junior defender Karina Rodriguez. “It’s definitely just focusing on the details and hopefully we’re ready for game time.”
After UCLA lost 1-0 to Stanford in its most recent away game on Oct. 19, the Bruins bounced back with a pair of home victories, beating No. 21 Washington 1-0 and Washington State 2-1. UCLA has won four of its past five games, with all four wins coming at home.
“I think we feel good as a team,” said senior midfielder Jessie Fleming. “The partnerships have been building and we’ve been scoring so we definitely have a bit of confidence right now.”
The Beavers and Ducks have yet to cash in on a home-field advantage since conference play began, as both teams have gone winless at home against Pac-12 opponents.
Oregon State went 8-0 during nonconference play, including a 5-0 record at its Paul Lorenz home field, where the Beavers outscored opponents 11-2.
Since then, Oregon State has scored just one goal in three Pac-12 home games. However, the Beavers’ home slate has included matches against the Cardinal and Huskies, a pair of teams with a combined 14-2-0 conference record.
While Oregon State has struggled to score, the Beavers have held opponents to just 0.88 goals per game and a .067 shooting percentage. Goalkeeper Bridgette Skiba has notched 55 saves – good for fourth-most in the Pac-12.
“Oregon State is going to be hard to score on – they get numbers behind the ball,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “We want to have more patience in the attacking third and be more discerning in our shot selection.”
The Bruins will next play the Ducks, who went winless through their first seven conference games and dropped to the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. Oregon finally notched it first win Sunday against Arizona State, the only team to remain winless in the conference.
Like the Beavers, the Ducks went undefeated at home in nonconference play but have scored just one goal at home during the Pac-12 season. Overall, Oregon is 10th in the conference with 26 goals in 16 games.
The Ducks have had similar struggles on defense, allowing a conference-high average of two goals per game. Goalkeeper Katelyn Carter has recorded 46 saves for Oregon but has a conference-low .613 save percentage.
UCLA beat both teams at home last season, including a 6-0 victory over Oregon State that was its highest margin of victory of the year. Historically, the Bruins have lost just three times to the Beavers and twice to the Ducks in 21 matchups with each team.
Rodriguez said she thinks the team has built some momentum heading into the matches.
“I think it’s just really good positive energy with the team right now,” Rodriguez said. “We’re in a good mentality and a good headspace.”
Kickoffs will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday against Oregon State and 1 p.m. on Sunday against Oregon.
