Bruins celebrate a goal by Jessie Fleming (photo by Scott Chandler)Bruins celebrate a goal by Jessie Fleming (photo by Scott Chandler)
Scott Chandler

The Bruins celebrate a goal by Jessie Fleming (photo by Scott Chandler)

Fleming Leads UCLA to 2-0 Win over ASU

Women's Soccer

Freshman midfielder scores two goals in under three minutes to lead UCLA to victory in the Pac-12 opener.

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Box Score

Los Angeles, Calif. - Freshman Jessie Fleming scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the game to lead 11th-ranked UCLA to a 2-0 victory over Arizona State in the Pac-12 opener Thursday night.

Perfect passing by seniors Amber Munerlyn and Darian Jenkins led to Fleming's first goal at 5:13. Munerlyn hit Jenkins on the run, and Jenkins flew past the ASU defenders on the right side of the box before crossing to an open Fleming, who easily tapped it in from eight yards out. Not even three minutes later, Fleming struck again. After receiving a pass from Anika Rodriguez, Fleming controlled the ball and then unleashed a long-distance golazo from about 25 yards out into the upper left corner at 8:05.

UCLA (7-2-0, 1-0-0 in the Pac-12) dominated the first half, outshooting Arizona State 9-0 and forcing Sun Devil goalkeeper Emma Malsy into making five saves, including a big save from close-range on a shot by Darian Jenkins in the 16th minute. Malsy also prevented Fleming from a hat trick with a save in the 28th minute.

The second half was more in Arizona State's favor offensively, as the Sun Devils outshot the Bruins 13-3. UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah came up with five saves in the half, including a save on a header off a free kick in the 63rd minute. The Sun Devils had a flurry of corner kicks in the final 20 minutes, including six in six minutes but were unable to score. A header by Jessica Raybe off a corner kick hit the post in the 71st minute, and another shot was blocked in the 72nd minute. In the 77th minute, Madison Stark had a good shot off a Raybe corner, but Micah was there for the save. Micah also made a big stop in the 82nd minute on a shot by Jazmarie Mader.

"I think it was just a tale of two halves, and we finished our chances and they didn't," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "The second half wasn't a good half for us, but we did well in defending the corners and kept a clean sheet."

Arizona State (5-3-1, 0-1-0) outshot UCLA, 13-12, and had eight corner kicks to UCLA's five, but Fleming was the difference in the game, and her two goals give her a Pac-12-leading seven this season in just six games.

The Bruins will next compete at Oregon State on Thursday, Sept. 29 at 7pm.