UCLA
Virginia
Virginia Rallies for 2-1 Win over UCLA
September 05, 2015 | Women's Soccer
Los Angeles, Calif. - Top-ranked Virginia came back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat No. 14 UCLA on Friday night, 2-1. The Cavaliers scored the tying goal in the 51st minute on a penalty kick and the game-winner in the 58th minute on a header by Meghan Cox that hit the far post and went in.
The Bruins (2-2) had taken an early 1-0 lead after Annie Alvarado was fouled in the box at 17:47. UCLA senior Taylor Smith scored on the resulting penalty kick for her first goal of the season.
Virginia (4-0) got the equalizer in a similar fashion at 50:32, scoring on a penalty kick by Alexis Shaffer after a handball was called in the box. Seven minutes later, at 57:11 the Cavaliers took the lead on Cox's header that came from a Megan Reid cross.
The Bruins had a few chances to equalize, including an empty netter in the 72nd minute after the defense pressured the goalkeeper into a turnover, but Smith's shot went wide. Kodi Lavrusky also had a chance in the 85th minute, but her header sailed wide.
UCLA goalkeeper Cassie Sternbach was fantastic in goal for the Bruins, making a career-high eight saves, several in spectacular fashion. Virginia had two huge back-to-back opportunities thwarted by Sternbach in the 25th minute. Veronica Latsko hit a shot that Sternbach leaped up to save off the crossbar, and Sternbach also grabbed the rebound shot by Kaili Torres. In the 33rd minute, Hana Kerner got a great shot off for the Cavaliers, but Sternbach made an incredible save to keep the clean sheet. Her fifth save of the half was a beauty, as she sprawled to her left to make a diving save on a shot on frame by Courtney Petersen.
"Cassie was huge, especially in the first half when we had the lead, just keeping zeroes on the board and a shutout in the first half. That was huge," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell.
"In the second half, we kind of died off a little bit and didn't have the same attacking flair that we showed at times in the first half," Cromwell continued. "I thought Taylor Smith was very good in our attack, and there were a lot of bright spots going forward for us. I'm excited to get to the next game. The girls will learn a lot from this, and it's really about who's going to improve the most for us this year."
The Bruins will next host Texas on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 7pm at Drake Stadium. The game will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
