Women’s soccer breaks undefeated streak in overtime loss to Arizona State

An own goal, a red card and an overtime winner – the Bruins’ first defeat of the season had it all.

No. 3 UCLA women’s soccer (8-1-1, 5-1-0 Pac-12) fell 2-1 in overtime to No. 21 Arizona State (7-1-2, 3-0-2) on Friday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, losing its first game of the season. The result also breaks the Bruins’ 20-year undefeated streak against the Sun Devils dating back to 2000, which also required overtime to decide a winner.

The Arizona State defense that had only conceded six goals in its first nine games disrupted UCLA’s offensive flow throughout the fixture, limiting the blue and gold to three shots on goal for the entire 99 minutes.

“They read cues to press at times and we were not good at going forward when we could go forward,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “We kept laying balls back, not facing up (and) not being accountable for our ability to go 1-v-1. We have some of the best 1-v-1 players in the country and we’re passing the buck. You got to take chances as a forward. For whatever reason we didn’t do that in the right moments.”

UCLA was able to break through for its only goal in the 17th minute when a left-footed strike from sophomore forward Mia Fishel was denied by the post but fell to the feet of freshman forward Kaila Novak. The Canadian slotted the rebound into the back of the net for her first collegiate score. Before the goal, Novak had recorded the first two assists of her career in the Bruins’ previous two games.

“Obviously getting the assists and scoring are small highlights, but it’s the team finishing the balls I send in,” Novak said. “I got a rebound off Mia’s shot, so again team effort. (It) definitely feels good to be making an impact as a forward.”

After conceding, Arizona State had the chance to even things up in the 29th minute after forward Nicole Douglas found open space in the box, but her header went over the bar. Douglas – the Pac-12’s leading scorer – accounted for a team-high five shots out of Arizona State’s 12 total attempts on the night.

The game remained at 1-0 for most of the second half, but the Sun Devils threw more numbers forward in the final 25 minutes of regulation, recording six shots in that time frame. In the 83rd minute, a low-driven cross from midfielder Olivia Nguyen bounced off multiple Bruin defenders, including the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, freshman Michaela Rosenbaum, before hitting the post and going in the goal.

“I’m always proud of the backline,” said senior defender Karina Rodriguez. “We’ve had a lot of different people in the back but I think we continue to work hard and look where we can improve. I think defensively, as a whole, we can be a bit better, but I think it’s about learning and growing. (I’m) definitely very proud of everyone who has stepped up on the backline and has given it 110%.”

Seconds after the equalizer, senior forward Kennedy Faulknor was sent off for stepping on the right foot of Arizona State midfielder Alexia Delgado, leaving UCLA with 10 players for the remainder of regulation and overtime.

Cromwell said the red card decision from the referee was a poor one.

“The fact that he pulled a straight red is criminal,” Cromwell said. “It’s really bad. It’s a referee trying to make an impact on the game they have no right to make an impact on.”

After chances on both ends earlier in the overtime period, defender/forward Cori Sullivan ended the match herself by finishing a cross from Douglas to give the Sun Devils the win, their first in 20 years over the Bruins.

“We had a chance at the end of the game to get in behind them 1-v-1 and we don’t, we cross it early,” Cromwell said. “They go down and go 1-v-1 and get a cross off and are winners. We gave that game away.”

UCLA will finish off its homestand next week against the Washington schools, starting with Washington State on April 2.