Women’s soccer nets 2 Pac-10 wins

Strong defense secures victories against Arizona and Arizona State

Eric Perez
Published: Monday, October 21, 2002

The No. 7 UCLA women’s soccer team had a successful weekend in Arizona, notching two more Pac-10 victories by defeating Arizona 1-0 in Tucson on Friday night and Arizona State 3-0 in Tempe on Sunday afternoon.

The Bruins (11-3, 3-1 Pac-10) established offensive pressure early in Friday’s game, outshooting the Wildcats in the first half 11-1. Arizona goalie Natalie Juarez was able to keep UCLA from getting one in the back of the net by notching five first-half saves.

Juarez needed help from her defense to stave off a Bruin attack in the 34th minute. She tipped away a shot by freshman midfielder Jill Oakes that was heading into the goal before it was cleared out by Arizona defender Jennifer Klein.

The game stayed scoreless until the second half when the Bruins were finally able to put one in on a penalty kick taken by Oakes at the 67:46 mark. UCLA was awarded the penalty kick when freshman midfielder Allie True was tripped up from behind inside the Arizona penalty box.

The UCLA defense was dominating all throughout the match as Arizona (5-7-1, 0-3 Pac-10) managed only two shots the whole game.

The Bruins enjoyed a more complete game on Sunday afternoon against a stronger opponent in Arizona State. UCLA survived an early scare when Arizona State’s Patrice Fulner got behind the Bruin backline and went one-on-one with sophomore goalie Sarah Lombardo; her shot sailed just outside the left post.

The Bruins missed out on a number of scoring chances in the first half, most notably an Oakes shot from 15 yards out that went off the top of the crossbar.

The game remained scoreless in the first half. Finally, in the 55th minute, freshman midfielder Stacey Lindstrom launched a corner kick from the left side toward the goal that was finished by a header from sophomore defender Kendal Billingsley.

UCLA scored again in the 70th minute when sophomore defender Michelle Mangiardi took a pass from sophomore forward Lindsay Greco in front of the box and put it past Sun Devil goalkeeper Kelly Fitzgerald.

Nine minutes later the Bruins added their final goal when Lindstrom, on a feed from sophomore forward Crystal James, scored from 15 yards out in the upper right corner to put the game away. The Sun Devils (8-3-2, 1-2 Pac-10) were shut out for the first time in 23 matches and were out-shot by the Bruins 19-6.

The team could not be reached for comment following the game.