Coming From Behind, UCLA Triumphs Over USC In Front Of Record Crowd
An incredibly large crowd watches as UCLA triumph and Ashley Sanchez scores the game-winning goal.
Women’s College Soccer: Watching UCLA Women’s soccer team is watching confident grace in active motion — with skills and technique, this team of talented young women never give up.
Led by Head Coach Amanda Cromwell, the No. 5 UCLA women’s soccer team was behind twice in regulation and then took in overtime to defeat No. 6 USC, 3-2, on a golden goal by freshman Ashley Sanchez 80 seconds into extra time.
The game was played at UCLA’s Drake Stadium in front of a NCAA women’s soccer regular season record crowd of 11,925 fans.
Soccer is a team sport and goals are not usually scored alone. Tonight’s game winner was scored at 91:20 by Sanchez who was perfectly set up by Sunny Dunphy and Anika Rodriguez. The freshman’s shot deflected off a USC defender into the back of the net for the game-winner.
“This team is super-resilient,” said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. “We know we can score goals. I don’t think we ever really lose our confidence when we put ourselves into a hole.”
USC scored first in the highly contested crosstown showdown, scoring in the 11th minute on a header by Nicole Molen. Then UCLA evened up the match at 25:00 on center back Kaiya McCullough’s first career goal.
Molen scored again in the first half — at the 34th minute to give USC a 2-1 lead, which the Trojans held until the 65th minute when Rodriguez stole a pass in the back third and beat the USC goalkeeper for the equalizer.
UCLA finishes the regular season with a 15-2-2 record and earned second place in the Pac-12 with an 8-2-1 conference mark. USC drops to 14-3-1 and finishes tied with UCLA for second place in the Pac-12.
Seeding and pairings for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Monday, Nov. 6 at 1:30pm PT on NCAA.com.
Source: UCLA Press Release
