UCLA women’s soccer triumphs over Stanford in overtime, sweeps Bay Area teams

STANFORD — After claiming the Pac-12 title Friday night in their hotel rooms, the Bruins needed one extra minute to down the five-year reigning champions.

No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer (12-1-1, 9-1-0 Pac-12) squeezed out a 2-1 win over the defending national champion Stanford (5-6-2, 4-4-1) in 91 minutes of action Sunday afternoon in Palo Alto. A golden goal from senior midfielder Delanie Sheehan in the first minute of the extra period gave the Bruins their first victory over the Cardinal since 2014, the same year UCLA last lifted the conference title. 

The ball fell at Sheehan’s feet just outside the six-yard box after freshman forward Reilyn Turner’s cross was deflected by multiple players in front of Stanford’s goal. The senior proceeded to slot the ball into the back of the net, completing the road sweep of the Bay Area schools.

“I was excited,” Sheehan said. “It was a great team win. It showed a lot of our resilience as a team and our belief in ourselves.”

From the opening whistle until the 30-minute mark, the Bruins dominated possession as the Cardinal sat back and looked to counterattack. Seeing the lion’s share of the ball, one of the blue and gold’s early opportunities came from a quick one-two on top of the 18-yard box between sophomore forward Mia Fishel and freshman forward Kaila Novak, but Fishel’s attempt went wide of the post.

Ten minutes later, senior midfielder Marley Canales’ second corner of the half found the head of Turner, but her header was saved by Cardinal goalkeeper Katie Meyer. 

“I thought the first half we played well,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “Reilyn had a great header on a corner, Mia had a chance to get in. We were dictating play and had a lot of the ball. We knew Stanford was going to look to counter, and that’s what they did.” 

Stanford threatened on the counterattack and even forced a goal-line clearance by UCLA after a shot from forward Abby Greubel was partially saved by redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy. Redshirt senior defender Jacey Pederson cleared the ball off the line to keep the game scoreless.

Out of the half, Brzykcy managed two saves in the first nine minutes before conceding in the 55th. On the goal, Stanford forward Samantha Williams’ attempted cross on the left wing was deflected by freshman defender Michaela Rosenbaum before going in the net. 

The Cardinal nearly doubled the lead 20 minutes later when Brzykcy was forced out of goal to clear a long ball, but her clearance found the feet of Belle Briede. The midfielder attempted a long-distance shot with no one in the net, but the Bruin goalkeeper managed to make the save just above the penalty spot.

“Lauren had a great game,” Cromwell said. “(The clearance play) was really awkward. It’s not something you ever see in training. … She came off her line well. She held everything that she needed to hold – on shots and crosses. Lauren’s been great for us.”

After conceding, the Bruins had no cracks at goal until the 77th minute where build-up play between Fishel and Sheehan led to Turner’s team-leading ninth goal of the season and second score in as many games.

“With our team, even if we are down a goal, we never think we’re going to lose,” Turner said. “We always are resilient. We have enough faith in our team that we are going to win. We never get down on each other. For me, being a freshman, I haven’t had fans at a college game, except for one. So having my parents there, it’s really nice being able to play in front of them.”

The fixture’s final moments of regulation saw end-to-end action as the Cardinal and the Bruins totaled 15 and 12 shots, respectively, before heading to overtime. 

UCLA will close out its regular season with a matchup against No. 21 USC on Friday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.