In A Battle Of Soccer Powerhouses UNC Prevailed 3-1 Against UCLA
Soccer News: UCLA Women’s Soccer closed its road trip with a 3-1 loss to fourth-ranked North Carolina on Sunday. Jessie Scarpa scored two goals for the Tar Heels, and Kodi Lavrusky netted her first goal of the year for the Bruins in the 82nd minute.
UNC (7-0-1) pressured the Bruin defense with 20 shots, nine on goal. UCLA starting goalkeeper Cassie Sternbach made a pair of saves in the first 12 minutes of the game but could not stop Summer Green’s goal from the top of the box at 25:00 that gave the Tar Heels a 1-0 lead.
UCLA (3-4-0) nearly tied it in the 32nd minute when Lavrusky had a shot from 22 yards out go high, and in the 34th minute, Darian Jenkins missed high on a header after a free kick just outside the box.
Halftime brought on a goalkeeper change from both teams, with redshirt freshman Arielle Schechtman making her collegiate debut in place of Sternbach, and Lindsey Harris switching out for Bryane Heaberlin. Schechtman faced an immediate trial by fire, getting hammered with five shots in the first eight minutes of the second half. The Tar Heels had two shots go high in the 48th minute, another go wide in the 50th, then Schechtman came up with saves on shots in the 51st and 53rd minute.
In the 54th minute, however, Scarpa nabbed the ball on a turnover and took a shot on the breakaway that was saved by Schechtman with a kick save. Scarpa gobbled up the rebound and finished into an open net from close range to send the Tar Heels ahead, 2-0.
The Bruins fought back to pull to within one at 81:38 when Annie Alvarado sent a ball to Lavrusky, who finished from 15 yards to the far post for her first goal. But UNC quickly slammed the door shut with a goal three minutes later by Scarpa, who beat Schechtman one-on-one for her second goal of the game.
UCLA will host Pepperdine in the final non-conference game of the season on Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7pm. The Bruins will be without senior forward Taylor Smith, however, after she was red-carded in the final three minutes of Sunday’s contest. Tickets for the UCLA-Pepperdine matchup are on sale online.
