The UCLA Bruins women’s soccer team, which topped the NCAA RPI rankings, remained undefeated by virtue of a 1-0 shutout of the Oregon State Beavers. The only goal came in the 17th minute when senior forward, Sydney Leroux took a pass from freshman defender, Caprice Dydasco and penetrated deep into Beaver territory. Just when it appeared Leroux was too close to the end line to do anything but pass; she put the ball behind Oregon State goalkeeper, Colleen Boyd.
The victory improved the Bruins record to 10-0-1 overall and 3-0-0 in the PAC-12 Conference. It was also the Bruins third consecutive shutout out of a total of seven for the season. Some may attribute the paucity of scoring by UCLA opponents to the Bruins defense but there are other factors to consider. This Oregon State game bore a striking resemblance to UCLA’s previous game – a 1-0 shutout over the Oregon Ducks.
Oregon appeared to be playing for a 0-0 tie. All of their effort seemed devoted to preventing UCLA from scoring. The Duck’s few attacks were less than an afterthought. Not only did this strategy fail on its face but UCLA inexplicably missed high percentage head-to-head with Oregon goalkeeper, Abby Steele. Bywaters’ incredulous reaction to Steele’s save was pricelessly illustrative - credit Steele’s defense. The shots on goal total for the UCLA-Oregon game 17-4 attests to the fact that playing defense alone is not a winning strategy.
Although the scores were the same, UCLA had less success against Oregon State in scoring chances. UCLA managed only seven shots on frame. Oregon State had a total of 3, all in the first period.
Besides the victories, UCLA demonstrated patience, persistence and consistent effort regardless of the situation. Next up for the top-ranked Bruins are the Califonia Golden Bears and the Stanford Cardinal, two teams that are unlikely to retreat into a defensive shell.
Photographs from both games are available for viewing at whatitlooklike.shutterfly.com.
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