UCLA women’s soccer finds top-10 victory against Stanford
In her first game in two weeks after a stint with the Mexican National Team, senior midfielder Maricarmen Reyes scored the game-winning goal for No. 5 UCLA women’s soccer in the 87th minute as the Bruins triumphed over No. 9 Stanford. (Marc-Anthony Rosas/Daily Bruin)
Women’s Soccer
| No. 9 Stanford | 0 |
| No. 5 UCLA | 1 |
By Diego Farinha
Oct. 28, 2021 10:17 p.m.
The third shot on target proved to be the winner for the Bruins.
Returning to the team following a two-week stint with the Mexican National Team, senior midfielder Maricarmen Reyes scored an 87th-minute winner to propel the blue and gold to victory.
“It’s been crazy,” Reyes said. “It’s cool to be back with the Bruins and get this win because we worked so hard.”
No. 5 UCLA women’s soccer (14-0-3, 6-0-3 Pac-12) overtook No. 9 Stanford (12-4-1, 6-2-1) for second place in the Pac-12 standings following Reyes’ third game-winning goal of the year, which gave the blue and gold a 1-0 win at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Thursday night. The win marks two consecutive victories over the Cardinal for the Bruins after suffering seven straight losses to their Northern California rival.
Freshman defender Quincy McMahon, who started in her first ever UCLA-Stanford game, said the rivalry matchup lived up to her expectations.
“Watching the Pac-12, it’s always such a big game,” McMahon said. “Leading up to this week, we knew that it was going to be a really hard game. We knew it was going to be one of our best competitions that we’ve faced so far.”
As the top-ranked teams settled into the match, Stanford held the lion’s share of possession in the opening moments.
On a counter attack, UCLA created its first scoring opportunity of the match in the 11th minute. Graduate student midfielder Marley Canales ran down a ball on the left flank before performing multiple step overs to evade defenders. But her succeeding cross traveled across goal over the heads of Bruin attackers and Cardinal defenders alike, ending the attack.
With the continued battle for control of the ball in the middle of the pitch, the match’s first shot came in the 19th minute off the feet of Stanford midfielder/defender Paige Rubinstein, finding the hands of senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy.
“They’re a possession-oriented team, so we knew there was going to be some give-and-take of possession,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “They had a big chunk of (possession) in the second half that we just couldn’t get out of our end. That says a lot about just being able to defend and weather the storm.”
Stanford continued its attacks toward UCLA’s goal. After a Cardinal corner kick was cleared from the box, the second ball in forced Brzykcy off her line and out of goal. With an open net, midfielder Katie Duong’s chip was bound for the net until junior defender Kylie Kerr made a goal-saving clearance to keep the contest scoreless.
Those two attempts plus a mistimed volley in the last moments of the half made up Stanford’s three shots of the first half while UCLA recorded one shot.
In the first 15 minutes of the second period, the Cardinal more than doubled its shot output on the night, recording five more shots and earning three corner kicks early in the second half.
The Bruins were stuck on one shot until the 67th minute when redshirt junior midfielder Madelyn Desiano struck the first shot on target for the blue and gold one minute after subbing into the match.
“We were surviving, and we made some changes,” Cromwell said. “We changed formation, got some subs in, and I think we got momentum back.”
Stanford nearly broke the deadlock in the 79th minute, forcing another Brzykcy save before the Cardinal’s leading scorer, midfielder Maya Doms, skied her rebound attempt over the crossbar.
The blue and gold responded with an attack on the right side of the field. Sophomore forward Reilyn Turner dribbled into the box before finding junior forward Mia Fishel, who left the ball for forward Lexi Wright, but the freshman’s shot was blocked by a Cardinal defender.
In the 86th minute, a McMahon throw-in was crossed into the box by Wright and fell to the feet of Reyes, who put it away for UCLA.
“(Reyes) has a nose for the goal,” Cromwell said. “She’s a midfielder, but she can score goals.”
Following the Reyes goal, the Bruins held the Cardinal scoreless for four more minutes to keep the shutout – their first in eight games since registering eight straight shutouts.
“Defensively, we were super organized and got the shutout which is awesome against one of the best offenses we’ve played against,” McMahon said.
UCLA will return home to Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Sunday to take on California.
