Aug. 26, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Freshman forward Sydney Leroux broke a 1-1 tie in the 82nd minute Tuesday, helping the third-ranked UCLA women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara at the North Athletic Field in Westwood on Tuesday.
The Bruins' winning goal actually began off a corner kick that was played short to midfielder McCall Zerboni. After dribbling along the end line, Zerboni chipped a ball to the left side of the box where Leroux trapped it before unleashing a right-footed shot to the near post. Although UCSB goalkeeper Tammy Lenham was covering that side of the goal, Leroux placed the shot perfectly between Lenham and the left post.
Junior forward Kristina Larsen got things started for the Bruins in the 16th minute, scoring on a right-footed shot to the far post from just inside the box. Lauren Wilmoth was credited with the assist on that goal.
UCSB's lone strike on the day came at the 51:57 mark when Cory Yoshida took advantage of a rebound off a save from Bruin goalkeeper Ashley Thompson. Thompson made an outstanding stop on UCSB's first shot, however the ball was cleared out towards the top of the box where Yoshida was waiting. She one-timed it back towards the goal, slipping it just past Thompson to even the match at 1-1. The unassisted goal was the first of Yoshida's Gaucho career.
UCLA outshot Santa Barbara 13-11. Lenham had four saves for the Gauchos while Thompson had five for UCLA.
The narrow loss to the powerful Bruins drops UCSB to 1-1 on the young season. The match was the first of the season for UCLA.
The Gauchos return to action on Friday evening when they host 25th-ranked San Diego in a 5:00 p.m. match at Harder Stadium. The contest will be UCSB's home opener and it will be part of a doubleheader. The Gaucho men will host Air Force at 7:30 p.m.
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