LOS ANGELES - No. 11 UCLA battled No. 14 Washington to a 0-0 tie on Friday night, recording its eighth shutout of the season and extending its unbeaten streak to seven games.
The Bruins (10-3-2, 7-1-1 in the Big Ten) nearly found more late-game magic. In the final 30 seconds, a Cate Sarinopoulos shot was blocked out for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner kick, Grace Shank found Kara Croone on the right side of the box, and Croone headed it down to Nicki Fraser steps away from the right post. Fraser one-timed it towards goal, but Ijams slid towards the post to deflect the ball out. Ijams also made a goal line save in the 66th minute. A Payten Cooper cross was deflected by a Washington defender and bounced right in front of goal straight to Leena Powell high at her chest. Powell chested it, but Ijams managed to swat the ball away to keep the Bruins off the board.
UCLA outshot the Huskies 15-5 and had five shots on goal, all saved by Ijams. Mariangela Medina made three saves to record her first solo shutout of the season.
"We see the chances, but when we play a high-caliber team, you want to make sure that you put the chances away. If you put one or two away, the game is very different, " said The Wolfen Family UCLA Women’s Head Soccer Coach Gof Boyoko. "We needed to find a way to score a goal. We see the goal, we have the box entries, the corners, and multiple crosses; the only thing is we couldn't find the back of the net. But overall, it was a good performance, and I'm proud of the girls."
After a scoreless first half, UCLA came out firing, totaling 11 shots in the second period while holding the Huskies to just two. In the 53rd minute, Sarinopoulos bent a free kick around the wall, but Ijams was there to make the save at the left corner. The Huskies' best attempt in the second half came in the 59th minute, but Medina made the save on an Avery Nguyen shot.
UCLA pressed for the go-ahead goal late in the game, with Oruha Hayashi taking a shot that was saved in the 85th minute and Anna Wilson taking a shot in the box that was blocked in the 88th minute before the Bruins' last-minute efforts were stopped.
The Bruins had a solid chance to score in the 17th minute on a free kick by Shank that pinged the crossbar.
Both the Bruins and Huskies take home one point, keeping UCLA in the top spot in the Big Ten for now with 22 points. Washington (11-1-3, 6-1-2) is two points behind the Bruins with 20. Ohio State (21 points) and Purdue (19 points) play each other on Sunday. UCLA returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Iowa.