Mia Fishel's airborne heroics help UCLA women's soccer continue undefeated start

The junior forward scored her third goal of the season to give the Bruins a late lead Sunday

Mia Fishel continues to make the most of her last first days in Westwood.

In the three games since she announced her junior season would be her final one with the Bruins, Fishel has scored three goals, the most recent of which stood out as the game-winner in No. 4 UCLA women's soccer's (3-0) 1-0 victory over Long Beach State (2-1) on Sunday. The Bruins had earned the lion's share of shots and possessions for most of the night, but it wasn't until Fishel struck it with the side of her head in the 78th minute that they actually got on the board.

Redshirt junior midfielder Madelyn Desiano opened the possession by carrying the ball down the left side and eventually dumping it off to sophomore midfielder Michaela Rosenbaum. From 15 yards outside the box, Rosenbaum wound up and launched one off her left foot to the top right corner of the 6-yard box, where Fishel leapt double-covered and redirected it into the bottom right corner of the net.

Fishel was a second-team All-American in the spring, just over a year removed from the All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman honors she collected as a freshman in 2019.

The Bruins were persistent, if not terribly efficient, in their attack for most of the rest of the match Sunday.

UCLA outshot Long Beach State eightfold, winning that column of the stat sheet 16-2. Only four of those shots ended up on target, however.

It was only a slight departure from the Bruins' first two matches in terms of percentage of shots on goal. Although they scored three times in each of their first two outings, just six of their 15 shots were on target in the season opener against UC Irvine while eight of 17 were the following game against CSU Fullerton. Getting off all available shots seems to be a winning formula for UCLA thus far in 2021, regardless of their quality.

The three shots on goal prior to Fishel's header were all certainly high-quality, and all three demanded high-quality saves from Beach goalkeeper Morgan Houston-Shepherd. Freshman defender Jayden Perry made a go for goal in the 34th minute, only for Houston-Shepherd to shut her down with a diving save to her left. Redshirt sophomore forward Sunshine Fontes got fouled just outside the box in the 76th minute, and while her direct kick got blocked, she gathered the rebound and sent another one towards the net, only for Houston-Shepherd to pick up another save.

The Beach weren't quite as prolific on offense, as they only attempted two shots all night. Neither were on goal, so senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy did not have to make a single save in order to secure her second-straight clean sheet.

With the win from women's soccer, all four UCLA teams that competed over the weekend emerged victorious. Football beat Hawaii on Saturday, women's volleyball beat UC Davis on Sunday and men's soccer beat San Francisco at Wallis Annenberg Stadium just moments before the women's squad kicked off its match against Long Beach State.

Next up on the slate for UCLA women's soccer is a road game against Loyola Marymount next Sunday at 1 p.m.

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