UCLA Women’s Soccer stormed back to earn another victory and head coach Amanda Cromwell is proud of her players who stepped up to make a difference. Cromwell’s squad made a big impact on the field – Kodi Lavrusky, Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski, Amber Munerlyn, Annie Alvarado and goalkeeper Siri Ervik performed great in the game.
Women’s College Soccer News: The Buffs (7-7-2, 1-5-1) had what appeared to be a goal in the 60th minute, but the whistle was blown for a foul/yellow card on Colorado prior to the ball crossing the goal line. A minute after that, Danica Evans nearly equalized with a shot in the box, but Ervik was there to make the stop.
But no stops were bigger than the ones Ervik made in the 63rd minute. The redshirt freshman turned away two consecutive shots, the first via kick save on a shot by Olivia Pappalardo. Ervik scrambled to her feet to put a hand on a volley by Evans, deflecting it off the crossbar before finally Emily Paxton put a shot wide.
Colorado evened the score at 75;53 after Joss Orejel‘s corner kick hit the crossbar and bounced down to Evans, who headed the ball into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season.
But UCLA came storming back, and 15 seconds later, the Bruins earned a penalty kick after Claire Winter was fouled in t
Women’s Soccer News: UCLA Bruins Beat Colorado Buffs, 2-1 tonight.
UCLA used strong goalkeeping and timely scoring to defeat Colorado, 2-1, at Drake Stadium on Friday night. Amber Munerlyn and Annie Alvarado scored second-half goals for the Bruins, and Siri Ervik made five big saves to help UCLA claim the victory. Ervik was masterful in her solid protection in front of the goal and had a huge impact on the match, saving 6 attempts on goal – five that were made in the second half.
“I thought it was a really good team effort,” said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. “You can look around the field and point to a lot of players who stepped up and played well.”
Munerlyn provided a nice spark for the Bruins (7-7-1, 3-3-1 in the Pac-12) off the bench at the start of the second half and created the game’s first goal in the 52nd minute. Munerlyn found room at the edge of the box by nutmegging a Colorado defender and then finished with her left to beat goalkeeper Kate Scheele for her third goal of the season.
The next 10 minutes resulted in several missed opportunities for each team. In the 58th minute, Kodi Lavrusky nearly doubled UCLA’s lead with a great run on a through ball by Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski, but Lavrusky’s shot past an onrushing Scheele went inches wide of the right post.
The Buffs (7-7-2, 1-5-1) had what appeared to be a goal in the 60th minute, but the whistle was blown for a foul/yellow card on Colorado prior to the ball crossing the goal line. A minute after that, Danica Evans nearly equalized with a shot in the box, but Ervik was there to make the stop.
But no stops were bigger than the ones Ervik made in the 63rd minute. The redshirt freshman turned away two consecutive shots, the first via kick save on a shot by Olivia Pappalardo. Ervik scrambled to her feet to put a hand on a volley by Evans, deflecting it off the crossbar before finally Emily Paxton put a shot wide.
Colorado evened the score at 75;53 after Joss Orejel‘s corner kick hit the crossbar and bounced down to Evans, who headed the ball into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season.
But UCLA came storming back, and 15 seconds later, the Bruins earned a penalty kick after Claire Winter was fouled in the box. Alvarado took the penalty and converted for her third goal of the year and the game-winner.
The Bruins were outshot by Colorado, 10-8, but Ervik’s career-high six saves made a big difference in the victory. Scheele had no saves for the Buffs. Colorado committed a total of 15 fouls in the match, which seemed pointless and inefficient compared to UCLA’s 6 and triumphant finish.
UCLA returns to Drake Stadium on Sunday to host Utah. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Mountain at 1pm.
Top image – Zoey Goralski (photo by Scott Chandler)
