(Photo Courtesy of Rand Bleimeister via UCLA Athletics)
UCLA Women's Soccer Topples Defending Champion Santa Clara in Shutout Effort
The Bruins remain undefeated after getting peppered all night by their highest-ranked opponent yet.
No. 4 UCLA women's soccer (5-0-0) held its ground to defeat No. 8 Santa Clara (3-2-2) in 1-0 clean sheet fashion Thursday night. The Broncos, who entered the season as the defending NCAA champions, got off 18 shots and nine on goal, all of which were turned away by senior goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy.
Not only did the nine saves tie a career high for Brzykcy, but it was also three times as many shots as she had faced for the entire season entering Thursday.
Brzykcy mades saves in the sixth, 28th, 35th, 50th, 55th, 61st, 66th, 75th and 77th minutes, putting her in the spotlight from start to finish. From stepping in front of crosses and blocking headers to winning 1-on-1 breakaway battles and snagging volleys, Brzykcy was all over the place and made stops in every fashion possible.
It marked the fourth-straight shutout for the Bruins and the third of the season for Brzykcy, not including the one she split with redshirt sophomore Hannah Mitchell against Loyola Marymount. UCLA has now allowed just one goal in five matches this year, further cementing them in the top 10 in the country for goals against average at 0.2.
Even with Brzykcy standing on her head for the entire night, the Bruins still needed to score in order to capitalize and secure the victory.
The hero on the offensive end was the same one who led UCLA to a win Sunday – sophomore Reilyn Turner. Fresh off a first half hat trick in that match, Turner gave the Bruins their only goal of the night Thursday.
In the 24th minute, redshirt junior midfielder Madelyn Desiano took the ball across midfield and split two defenders with her pass down the right side to Turner. The reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and UCLA's leading scorer received the pass just outside the box, kept the ball on her right foot and just barely sliced it in between the diving Santa Clara goalkeeper and the right post.
Turner now has five goals in five games this season, accounting for nearly half of her team's offensive output so far this fall.
The Bruins recorded just one more shot on target for the rest of the night and were outshot 18-6 by the Broncos on the night overall. UCLA entered Thursday outshooting its opponents 70-15 through four games.
Next up for UCLA is another home match, this time against CSUN set to kick off at 6 p.m. on Monday.
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