LOS ANGELES – The No. 10 UCLA women’s soccer team defeated Illinois 2-1 behind a brace by Oruha Hayashi. The senior midfielder scored the opening goal in the first half and the game-winning goal in the 77th minute on Sunday, Oct. 11 to lift UCLA to its sixth consecutive victory. The Bruins are now 10-3-1 overall and 7-1-0 in the Big Ten.
Both of Hayashi’s goals came off corner kicks by Grace Shank. The first came in the 24th minute from the right side of the pitch. Shank played the corner in front of the endline to Hayashi, who then played a give-and-go with Shank, firing a shot from 16 yards out that deflected off the hands of Illinois goalkeeper Izzy Lee and into the back of the net for the first goal of the game.
Illinois was able to even the score in the 28th minute thanks to a goal from Emma Yee off a cross from the right wing by Hedda Ornberg. It marked only the third goal allowed by UCLA in conference play this season, and it snapped the Bruins’ shutout streak at 560 minutes.
The Bruins were relentless on the attack, particularly in the second half, when they outshot the Fighting Illini 15-1. Six of the Bruins’ second-half shots were saved by Lee, including a fingertip stop of a Kara Croone on-target shot at 76:21. But on the subsequent corner kick, which was taken quickly by Shank, Hayashi struck again. The Toyooka, Japan native dribbled into the right side of the box and then blasted a left-footed shot over the outstretched Lee to the top left corner of the goal, giving UCLA the go-ahead goal.
UCLA outshot the Fighting Illini 24-4 in the game. Goalkeeper Mariangela Medina totaled one save, while Lee had eight for Illinois.
Hayashi’s brace was her second in the last four games. She also scored two goals at Maryland on Sept. 27. She now leads the team in scoring with 14 points and is tied with Kara Croone for the team lead in goals with six. Shank increased her team-leading assist total to seven. She has three assists in the last two games.
“We’re super excited,” said The Wolfen Family UCLA Women’s Head Soccer Coach Gof Boyoko. “It’s our 10th win of the season, we’re on top of the league with four games left, so it’s just one game at a time.”
The Bruins return to Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Friday, Oct. 16, to face Washington in their final regular season home game of the season. The game will kick off at 8:00 PM PT and will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.