Toreros Unable to Bear Bruins’ Talent for 90 Minutes

Women’s soccer falls to no. 3 UCLA in hard-fought game 

Mari Olson / Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego women’s soccer team was back at home on Thursday evening, coming up against the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins.

The team knew they were going to have a tough game ahead of them going into Thursday night’s match. Redshirt junior defender and team captain, Michaela Foster, prepared her team for the challenge.

“We knew what we were up against, they’re ranked third in the country at the moment, so it was always going to be a big challenge,” Foster said. 

The Toreros played through a tough first half, conceding two goals to the Bruins. The goals were scored in the 36th minute and immediately before halftime in the 45th. Both goals were scored by UCLA’s junior forward, Mia Fishel. 

The second half was a defensive battle by the Toreros to keep the score at 0-2. 

Senior goalkeeper, Ellyn Casto, made four saves to deny the Bruins. Good defense by first-year defenders, Mia Castillo and Tiana Egland, kept USD in the match until the final whistle. 

However, the Toreros couldn’t find an answer to the Bruins’ first half. The UCLA defense limited USD to three shots total over the course of the game, and the Bruins’ senior goalkeeper, Lauren Brzykcy, saved both the Toreros’ shots on goal. 

In the 83rd minute, a free kick was awarded to USD and a yellow card was given to UCLA junior defender, Kylie Kerr. 

The ball was lifted into the box, but the Toreros couldn’t control it, and it was eventually cleared away by the Bruins. 

The game ended with a Torero attack. A final attempt at a cross was sent into the box, but it was missed by both the UCLA and USD players. The loss put USD’s record at 4-3 on the season. 

Foster, who played the full 90 minutes on Thursday, was positive, even in defeat. 

“I’m proud of the effort that went into tonight. I’m proud of all the girls. We never gave up. We ended up chasing the ball a lot, but we were always in it and even in the last minute we were pushing,” Foster said. 

Head coach Louise Lieberman agreed with Foster on the positives of the game. 

“I’m really proud of our girls, they executed in terms of work rate, our attacking and defense game plan. I’m really proud of them,” Lieberman said after the game. 

Lieberman knew her team could hold their own against a team like UCLA. 

“I did expect us to play as hard and as well as we did. When you’re playing against a very talented team like UCLA there are going to be moments where they capitalize, and they did,” Lieberman said. “My expectation was that it would be a fairly even match, but there were times where UCLA had some really good moments.” 

Both Foster and Lieberman are excited to continue their season and learn from their games against the best. 

“There’s a lot of work ons to move forward into our next game on Sunday. We’re looking to have more possession because you gotta have the ball in order to win,” Foster said. 

There is still time to improve for USD women’s soccer, and Lieberman is planning on taking lessons from the game against UCLA into the rest of the season. 

“In many moments it was an even match, and where it wasn’t, that’s where we’re going to try and grow from in order to apply it to the next game and the next game and continue to grow and develop,” Lieberman said. 

Lieberman also emphasized the commitment of her athletes to the pursuit of reaching their goals for the season.

“In every single game that we’ve played we’ve grown as a team. But it’s because I’m dealing with some incredible student-athletes, who are intelligent, hardworking, and passionate about Torero soccer and this team,” Lieberman said. 

After taking on University of California, Santa Barbara on Sept. 19, the Toreros will move on to their last game before their West Coast Conference schedule begins, playing the University of Denver here at home on Saturday, Sept. 25.