University of Washington
UCLA
Huskies Beat Bruins For First Pac-12 Win
October 02, 2015 | Women's Soccer
SEATTLE – Junior midfielder Amanda Perez scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute as UW women's soccer beat the UCLA Bruins to pick up its first Pac-12 win of the 2015 season and remain unbeaten at home.
“This means a lot,” Perez said. “We've had a great season so far but the Pac-12 is a whole different animal. We wanted to start off strong and we were disappointed with our performance at Arizona. I feel like this win will go a long way towards getting us rolling and regaining some of that momentum and confidence. This puts on the right path of playing good soccer again.”
Perez Pac-12 Network Interview
The Huskies (8-2-1, 1-1-0 Pac-12) have now won eight of their last ten games. UW dropped its Pac-12 opener at Arizona, its only loss in the last nine games. The Huskies are now 5-0-0 at home.
UW's win over UCLA (5-5-0, 1-1-0 Pac-12) is the Huskies fourth all-time victory over the Bruins, improving to 4-16-2 in the all-time series. The win also ended the Bruins' 23-game conference unbeaten streak and 11-game conference winning streak.
“I thought this was a great game full of good soccer by both teams,” UW head coach Lesle Gallimore said. “I thought our back line had a tremendous game. Our team has been persistent, relentless and resilient throughout the season. They want to win. They're winners. I'm confident that with each game they come out here and put their best foot forward, and I'm glad we got the win tonight. It was a deserved three points.”
With the scored tied at one, UW junior defender Havana McElvaine took a shot from distance that was deflected to Perez in front of the goal at the top of the six-yard box. She shot the ball directly at UCLA keeper Arielle Schechtman, but had enough pace on the strike that Schechtman couldn't handle it and the ball slipped through her legs to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead that would stand for the final score.
“Lesle's big thing today was for us to capitalize on our chances,” Perez said. “I knew I would have a chance or two, and I knew one was coming with Havana struck that ball. I focused and tried to get the most out of that chance and fortunately it found the back of the net.”
Perez now has four goals in 2015 and is the Huskies' second leading scorer. McElvaine was credited with the assist, her second of the year.
The Huskies outshot the Bruins 5-2 in a scoreless first half, forcing Schechtman in four saves. UW finally broke the scoreless tie in the 65th minute when sophomore defender Dominique Bond-Flasza struck a shot from the right side that Schechtman dove to save, but couldn't control. The ball fell to freshman forward Kelcie Hedge, and she found the back of net to record her second goal of the season and give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Bond-Flasza was credited with the assist, her second of the year.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bruins built an attack that led to cross by Taylor Smith that UW senior goalkeeper Megan Kufeld deflected. UCLA's Kristiana Konkol was there to get a foot on the rebound and sneak the shot past Kufeld to immediately tie the game in the 66th minute.
“Obviously the big disappointment was that we gave up that goal right away, especially given how well we had been playing up to that point,” Gallimore said. “We just lacked focus in that moment, to let them have that chance right away.”
The Huskies and Bruins put up nine shots apiece in the second half, as UW held an overall 14-11 shot advantage to force Schechtman into a busy night with recorded nine saves.
The Huskies continue their weekend home stand against the USC Trojans on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 4:30 p.m. PT. The game will be shown live on the Pac-12 Network. In-game updates will also be provided on Twitter at @UW_WSoccer and through the live stats page on GoHuskies.com.
For more on UW women's soccer, follow the Huskies on Facebook and on Snapchat, Periscope, Twitter and Instagram at @UW_WSoccer.
