The Bruins have met and beat the best players in the country.
No. 3 UCLA Women’s Soccer (5-0) beat No. 1 North Carolina (5-1) on Sunday in a 2-1 road victory. The Tar Heels broke his scoreless tie in the 48th minute, pushing the Bruins’ back against the stadium wall. The stadium had not seen a non-conference opponent win a match since 2014.
Sophomore forward Lexi Wright returned to UCLA in the 61st with an equalizer. She then graduated goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy to prevent UNC from responding.
Brzykcy made five saves on the day, four of them in the second half, each more spectacular than the last. Leaping saves in the 67th and his 76th helped Tarr to keep his heels off the board despite constant attacking and a dominance of late possessions.
The Bruins needed a final push to stop the upset. That’s what Wright got when he threw a clear from the top of the box into the right-flank midfield. Defender Tori Hansen tracked it down and went to give North Carolina another chance, but junior forward Raelyn Turner had other plans.
Turner came in from behind Hansen, shouldered down on Tarheel, completed the tackle, and kept the ball on the bounds. With plenty of space and only one defender between her and the goal, Turner took the distance and launched a strike with his right foot from 18 yards out.
The ball was caught between the diving goalkeeper and the right post and UCLA took the lead in the 84th minute.
Any chance the Tar Heels had to undo it with minutes to go vanished quickly and the Bruins held on to win.
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The win comes just three days after UCLA beat second-placed Duke, who is also traveling, and the Bruins are the new No. 1 team in the nation when the latest polls are released. I was able to. UCLA ranked him 13th in preseason polls, but it took first-year coach Marguerite Aozasa just three weeks to make a team that could beat them. did.
Aozasa has also shaped these Bruins into true road warriors, with the latest results showing the team pulling off a three-game winning streak away from Westwood.
Despite winning 16-7, UCLA managed to weather the storm in a hostile environment. UNC also had 10 corners to UCLA’s, and the Tar Heels proved to be more physical, being called for 11 fouls compared to the Bruins’ six.
Turner brought physicality to the table when she needed it most, but avoided the whistle and took advantage of her powerful tackles. Neither was the coach, who was reprimanded by the referee shortly after Turner’s game winner.
UCLA is one week away from taking the pitch again, and their next game will be back home at 5pm on September 11th against Fullerton, California.
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Photo courtesy of UCLA Athletics
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