UCLA
14-2-2, 7-2-1
California
13-4-1, 6-3-1
Women's Soccer Shuts Out Cal, 1-0
October 29, 2017 | Women's Soccer
LOS ANGELES โ Freshman Ashley Sanchez scored in the 57th minute to lead No. 6 UCLA to a 1-0 shutout victory over No. 16 California. With the win, the Bruins improve to 14-2-2, 7-2-1 in Pac-12 play, while California drops to 13-4-1, 6-3-1.
The Bruins dominated on the scoresheet, totaling 18 shots, eight of which were on goal. Cal was held to seven shots, only two that were on goal. Goalkeeper Emily Boyd kept the Golden Bears in the game with seven saves. UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah made two saves to earn the shutout, her seventh of the season.
"I thought it was a great performance coming off a loss," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "The first half, especially, I think we were really dominant and really had chances to put them on their back foot. We just couldn't finish, but that's our game sometimes. In the end, I love our effort and our mentality, and I think we were really good on set plays, which was our focus for today. In the end, it doesn't matter if it's 1-0 or 3-0; it's a W, so we'll take the W."
Sanchez's goal came after a long pass from center back Kaiya McCullough. Sanchez made a run on the left side, settled the ball after a defender deflected it, side-stepped another defender and then fired a shot at goal. Boyd got a hand on it but was unable to prevent it from going into the back of the net. The goal was Sanchez's fifth of the season.
The Bruins take a 1-0 lead on Cal on this goal by @ashleynsanchezz, her fifth of the season. #GoBruins | #Pac12Soccer pic.twitter.com/xmm2fWfMZx
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 29, 2017
The first half of the game was filled with near-misses and great saves. In the 19th minute, Haley Lukas cleared a header by Jessie Fleming off the line at the right post. The Bruins were again victimized by the south goal crossbar in the 23rd minute when Olivia Athens' shot pinged off the post and went straight down but bounced out of danger. Fleming had another great look in the 36th minute, curling a free kick to the upper left corner, but Boyd made a diving save to keep her off the scoreboard.
Amazing effort by Emily Boyd to make a save on this Jessie Fleming free kick.
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 29, 2017
36' | 0-0 pic.twitter.com/UuFiM8Ef5E
Boyd continued to keep Cal in the game with impressive saves in the second half. Zoey Goralski fed Julia Hernandez with a perfect cross in the 85th minute, and Hernandez's header was met by Boyd, who made another spectacular save to deny the Bruins.
Great ball in from @zoeygoralski to @Julia_JHE for the header, but Boyd makes another great save to keep it 1-0 UCLA. pic.twitter.com/BIin3OeTvR
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 29, 2017
UCLA's defense kept Cal from many serious threats, holding the Bears to two shots on goal. Abigail Kim had one of the two shots on goal, which was saved by Micah in the first half, and another of her shots hit the right post in the second half.
The Bruins will close the regular season on Friday, Nov. 3 against USC in the crosstown showdown at Drake Stadium. UCLA is aiming to break the NCAA women's soccer regular season attendance record of 10,128, which was set in 2014 at the Coliseum during a 2-0 UCLA victory at USC. Tickets to Friday's match are just $1 and can be purchased in advance at www.uclabruins.com/tickets.
Team Stats
Sanchez, Ashley (5)
dribbles across front of box
56:04
