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LBSU women’s soccer claims big win over UCLA

A record-setting crowd at Friday night’s LBSU women’s soccer match witnessed something that the team has not done in more than 30 years.

The crowd of 2,232 fans saw the 49ers defeat the No. 4 UCLA Bruins 1-0, on a Vania Robles goal on George Allen Field

The win marked the first time LBSU (1-0-0) has beaten the Bruins (0-1-0) since 1983. In their last matchup in 2009, UCLA demolished the 49ers 4-0.

Though the win was one to remember, head coach Mauricio Ingrassia didn’t want to dwell on it too long.

“[This win] is fantastic, it’s great,” Ingrassia said. “We’re going to enjoy it tonight, that’s for sure. But that 11 a.m. [game vs. Auburn] on Sunday is going to come really fast.”

In the 67th minute, as the Bruins tried playing from the back, sophomore striker Ashley Gonzalez was able to take away the ball. Gonzalez made a run through the left side and tapped a cross through a defender’s legs towards Robles, who was making the run through the middle.

Robles put pressure on a UCLA defender who mistimed the cross and tapped the ball towards her own net. UCLA goalie Sternbach was unable to get a glove on it, and the ball dribbled into the net, giving LBSU the 1-0 lead. Robles was credited with the goal.

“It just took that extra five percent of just pushing myself to try to get there,” Robles said. “I want to say, honestly, it was probably both of us — the defender and me, [that pushed the ball in].”

The 1-0 final betrays the excitement that the game carried throughout, as both teams were on the attack from the start. UCLA looked much more dangerous in the first half as they pressured high and backed LBSU into their own half, but the 49ers managed to keep some possession and held the Bruins scoreless the entire half.

“We were ok with keeping [the ball] and circulating it in the back,” Ingrassia said. “I thought the first half was great. We wanted to get to the half up one or tied and we were tied.”

The Bruins had two shots at the 49er goal in the 18th and 25th minutes. Bruin forward Kristiana Konkol-Mroczkowski had a soft shot that was easily picked up by junior goalkeeper Ashton McKeown. UCLA forward Kodi Lavrusky put another chance to score over the bar.

The 49ers had their own chance in the 40th minute. Sophomore midfielder Jessica Vincent managed to fire off a shot Sternbach was able to block. The ball was left bouncing in the six-yard box as both Sternbach and Robles raced towards it. The UCLA keeper was able to smother it and keep the game tied at zero.

The second half was a different story. The 49ers came out looking sharp after the intermission. LBSU continued to concede possession, but their counter attacks were much more threatening.

The Bruins never stopped looking for the equalizer and were very close on two separate occasions. In the 73rd minute, Lavrusky headed a ball into the back of the net but was ruled offside by the linesmen. Ten minutes later, the crossbar denied forward Amber Munerlyn and Lavrusky put the rebound shot just wide.

The final minutes were intense, but LBSU managed to hold on for the 1-0 win. Yet, the 49ers lost sophomore defender Allie Emmons to a dislocated shoulder in the 62nd minute.

The 49ers will look to build on this impressive start when they play the Auburn Tigers Sunday at 11 a.m. on George Allen Field.

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