UCLA
13-2-2, 6-2-1
Stanford
16-1-0, 9-0-0
Bruins Fall to No. 1 Stanford, 1-0
October 26, 2017 | Women's Soccer
LOS ANGELES - The battle between No. 1 Stanford and No. 6 UCLA lived up to its billing, as the two teams played a thrilling contest that resulted in a 1-0 victory by the Cardinal, who have now won 14 straight matches.
The match was not without controversy, however. In the 26th minute of a scoreless affair, UCLA's Hailie Mace collected a through ball from Viviana Villacorta and looped a long-distance shot that hit the crossbar and dropped straight down. The ball toed the goal line but was ruled to have not crossed the line. Stanford regained possession and went down the field, scoring just one minute later at 27:06 on a close-range shot by Jordan DiBiasi following a corner kick.
Both teams wasted no time in trying to gain advantage in the match. Just eight seconds into the contest, the Bruins put together a scoring threat, with Olivia Athens feeding a nice ball through to Hailie Mace, who placed a shot just wide, hitting the side netting. The Cardinal answered right back a minute later, with Kyra Carusa hooking a shot wide past an open left corner of the goal.
A big defensive play by UCLA defender Kaiya McCullough kept it a one-goal game. In the 51st minute, Carusa looped a header over UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah, who had come off her line to punch away a service. McCullough raced back and cleared the ball off the line just before it crossed the plane of the goal. The Bruins nearly scored on the counter, much like Stanford did after Mace's near-goal, but Stanford goalkeeper Alison Jahansouz scooped up a deflected ball to Mace in the box before the Bruin forward could get there.
BIG TIME save by defender Kaiya McCullough in the 51st minute! @hiyakaiya
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 27, 2017
1-0 Stanford | #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/8RVmeoVlBu
UCLA's best chance to equalize came in the 70th minute. MacKenzie Cerda swung a corner kick out wide to an unmarked Gabrielle Matulich, and her header seemed destined for goal before Jahansouz made an incredible leaping save to keep the Bruins off the board.
The Cardinal (16-1-0, 9-0-0 in the Pac-12) had the advantage in shots, 11-8. Each team notched three corner kicks and three saves.
"We showed good effort all over the field," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "They're number one in the country, and we've been number one. You saw two really good teams that on any given night, any one of us could win."
UCLA (13-2-2, 6-2-1) will next host California on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1pm before wrapping up the regular season with the crosstown showdown with USC. Tickets for the UCLA-USC matchup on Nov. 3 are just $1.
A recap of all the drama from No. 1 @StanfordWSoccer and No. 6 @UCLAWSoccer in one convenient place: ?? pic.twitter.com/Pa1D7Rw6fd
โ Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) October 27, 2017
Team Stats
DiBiasi,Jordan (6)
Assisted By: Cook,Alana
scramble in box after corner kick
27:06
