The Bruins were clearly in control from start to finish, but that didn’t show up on the scoreboard for most of the match.
It took a slow surge from the unlikely veterans to erase any potential upset for the Titans and consequently lift the blue and gold to a multi-goal victory.
No. 1 UCLA women’s soccer (6-0-0) beat Fullerton, Calif. (3-2-3) at Wallis Annenberg Stadium on Sunday night after 90 minutes. We won 5-1. Early in the second half, however, the top-ranked Bruins stayed 2-1 despite taking a triple shot and dominating possession from the opening whistle.
In the 65th minute, freshman midfielder Sophia Cook took advantage of an errant pass and dropped the ball to senior forward Sunshine Fontes to score. We could, but the country’s No. 1 team still had gas in their tanks to make their win even more convincing.
Senior forward Kari Trevithick came into the game in the 81st minute, making his first appearance of the young season. Trevithick has missed the entire 2021 campaign and almost all of his 2020 season, which has been postponed by COVID, due to knee surgery. That’s after missing more than half of his 2019 freshman year to another knee injury.
On Sunday night, Trevithick, who had returned to full health, checked in and immediately made her presence known.
After a shot was blocked by alumnus midfielder Maricarmen Reyes, the ball went to freshman forward Brigitte Marin Valencia in the left corner. Marin he scored in the first inning when Valencia sent his cross low from the left foot and Trevithick split his two defenders in front of the net to make it 4–1 in the 83rd minute.
It was Trevithick’s first goal since Clemson in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and after her teammates swarmed around her in celebration, the seniors resumed the offense even further.
In the 85th inning, Reyes sent a through ball in Trevithick’s fashion on the right side of the box. A Titan defender got there just moments ahead and tried to clear it, but the ball bounced off a sliding Trevithick and fell over the leaping keeper and into the back of the net.
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Trevithick didn’t play a single match in 494 days, but he quickly doubled his all-time goalscoring tally.
Behind Trevithick’s second-half push to increase the score, the Bruins secured a four-goal victory. The score was stacked in favor of UCLA given that he attempted 23 shots against Fullerton’s 7 and had 12 shots on goal compared to Fullerton’s 2, with the rest of the stats piling up in UCLA’s favor and the final matched.
The Titans only attempted one corner kick, while the Bruins had 10.
Alumni Allie Cook opened the scoring in the 31st minute and Reyes scored twice in the 42nd minute. Graduates goalkeeper Lauren Budzixy made two saves in the 24th and 25th minutes and conceded a goal in the 60th minute before freshman Niek Purcell closed things out in the final 15 minutes.
Fullerton, California goaltender Mia Ransone may have allowed five goals, but he made seven saves to keep the Bruins’ damage in check for most of the night. However, she could only maintain power for a long time and Trevithick opened the match wide just before the final whistle blew.
UCLA will stay home and host San Diego State University on Thursday, when the showdown begins at 7 p.m. Matches will be shown on UCLA Live Stream 2.
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Photo credit: ROSS TURTELTAUB/UCLA Athletics
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