UCLA women’s soccer looks to maintain strong record against Long Beach State

The Bruins will not have to leave Westwood to see the beach this weekend.

No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer (2-0) will host Long Beach State (2-0) on Sunday evening at Wallis Annenberg Stadium, facing its third straight Big West opponent. The Bruins lead the all-time series against the Beach 7-1, winning their previous four matchups dating back to 2016.

UCLA opened its season with wins over UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton last week, while Long Beach State defeated No. 8 Pepperdine on Thursday for its first win over a top-ten ranked team since 2015, the last time it beat UCLA.

With the Bruins having an entire week of rest compared to two days for the Beach, coach Amanda Cromwell believes the extra time off gives her team the edge in terms of fresh legs.

“It’s great for recovery,” Cromwell said. “Some players have a couple of knocks that can rest up and try to get to one hundred percent. It’s an advantage for us because I know they had a game Thursday against Pepperdine, so we should be rested.”

In its opening week of action, UCLA’s attack netted six goals while its defense conceded just one goal and limited the opposition to 10 total shots over two contests.

Entering this season, there was production to replace in the defense as junior defender Brianne Riley was the only returning player from last year’s starting backline. So far, the new defensive partnership of Riley, junior Kylie Kerr, freshman Lilly Reale and redshirt junior Madelyn Desiano only has one blemish on its record, an 89th-minute goal allowed to UC Irvine.

Kerr, who currently leads the team in minutes with 162, said she is happy with the performance of the revamped defense to start the season.

“It’s been a very new lineup this year, but it’s been good so far,” Kerr said. “We’re just trying to get all the kinks out, but so far so good.”

Reale completes the center back tandem with Kerr and is the only freshman on the backline.

Though only weeks into her debut season in Westwood, Reale believes the Bruins’ chemistry on the field in the first two games stems from their time spent together off of it.

“That comes with a lot of stuff off the field,” Reale said. “Luckily, I’ve been getting really close with Kylie and Brianne. Getting that connection off the field has been beneficial on the field because (we) know we always have each other’s backs.”

The defense will be facing a Long Beach State team that has scored two goals in each of its first two matches this season. In those games, the Beach has struck in successive fashion, scoring goals two minutes apart against Cal State Northridge on Aug. 19 before doing so again versus Pepperdine en route to its upset victory.

“They’re very good,” Cromwell said. “They’re dangerous upfront. They can score goals and counter. They can keep possession. So it’s going to be a good game.”

After having nearly 8,000 fans in the crowd last time out against Fullerton, the Bruins will continue having fans in the stands, which Kerr said is a welcoming sight.

“It’s so much fun,” Kerr said. “Having our families be able to be there. Knowing we have this huge support system behind us. All the SoCal girls and their families – a majority of our team is from SoCal – they have their families at every game, and it’s so great to see all the parents after. … We go to (UCLA men’s soccer) games, the guys come to ours. It makes you feel more connected to the community.”

Kickoff at Wallis Annenberg Stadium is set for 6 p.m.