Olivia Athens' Golden Goal Seals Comeback Win for UCLA Women's Soccer

A big scoring burst opened Sunday's match, only for the Bruins and Sun Devils to spend the next 60 minutes locked in a dead heat.

No. 3 UCLA women's soccer (10-0-1, 2-0-1 Pac-12) and Arizona State (8-3-1, 0-2-1) combined for six goals in the first 30 minutes Sunday afternoon. An hour later, the two Pac-12 foes found themselves headed to overtime, where the Bruins took care of business to win 4-3 and remain unbeaten in 2021.

Freshman defender Quincy McMahon was making a go down the right side six minutes into the sudden death overtime when she crossed he ball into the box. Sun Devil goalkeeper Birta Gudlaugs leapt to try and reel it in, but the ball went right between her gloves and ended up at the feet of graduate midfielder Olivia Athens.

Athens, playing her fifth season with the Bruins, one-timed it with her left foot and snuck it by two defenders to end the match with the goal.

✨ @oliviaathens is golden! ✨

Captain clutch comes through again to give #UCLA a 4-3 OT win at ASU.
pic.twitter.com/nvMULrUoim
— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 4, 2021

The first goal of the match came a full 90 minutes earlier, when junior forward Mia Fishel finished up a chip pass over the goalie by senior midfielder Maricarmen Reyes.

In the ensuing 20 minutes, Arizona State rattled off three unanswered goals to go up by two. Jazmine Wilkinson, Nicole Douglas and Eva van Deursen were the three Sun Devils who finished, with Douglas scoring her 13th goal of the season to take the top spot on the nation's leaderboards.

It didn't take long for UCLA to dig itself out of the hole, however.

Arizona State scored an own goal off a UCLA corner kick to make it 3-2 in the 29th minute. 45 seconds later, the Bruins earned a free kick at midfield, which McMahon collected on the right side of the box and sent off the left post.

Sophomore midfielder Dasia Torbert secured the rebound and fired it back towards the net for the game-tying goal.

There's no break in the action really, but here's a look at UCLA's second goal, which came off the corner kick by @marley_canales, trimming ASU's lead to 3-2.

📺: @Pac12Network
📲: https://t.co/fCoGTVL48N pic.twitter.com/sJPuQYRdye
— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 3, 2021

And less than a minute later ... we're all tied up thanks to @QuincyMcMahon13 and Dasia Torbert. #GoBruins https://t.co/PGwRn6nrrR
— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 3, 2021

The Bruins only got one more shot on goal for the remainder of regulation, which was saved, and senior goalkeeper Luaren Brzykcy saved all three shots the Sun Devils put on frame in the second half.

Bryzkcy's final save may have been her biggest, as she got major air and dove to her left to catch it cleanly and keep it all tied at 3-3 in the 69th minute.

😱 What a save by @laurenbrzykcy11 to keep it tied at 3-3 in the 69th minute!

📺: @Pac12Network
📲: https://t.co/fCoGTVL48N pic.twitter.com/Dk1hHKkGeG
— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 3, 2021

None of the three shots UCLA attempted in the final eight minutes were on target, but their defense stood strong to force overtime.

Athens scored her golden goal after six minutes of one-sided play to open overtime, and the Bruins escaped with a comeback win and road sweep of the Arizona schools after they beat Arizona State on Thursday night.

Even with the win, UCLA allowed four goals on the weekend road trip after allowing just one goal in their first nine games of the year. The Bruins are still conceding an average of 0.45 goals so far this fall, good for top-15 in the country.

UCLA will play mountain schools Utah and Colorado next week at home, with the game against the Utes set to kick off at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA Olympic sports stories: UCLA Olympic Sports on Sports Illustrated