The loss of starting goalkeeper Daphne Nakfoor to injury amid arguably the most important part of the conference slate could have derailed the Bruins’ dominant season.
But the depth the team has shown offensively and defensively all season proved to extend to its goalkeeping room.
With junior Mariangela Medina keeping the net clean in her third start of the season, No. 10 UCLA women’s soccer (10-3-2, 7-1-1 Big Ten) went nil-nil with No. 12 Washington (11-1-3, 6-1-2) on Friday night at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. After the shutout, the Bruins are the only team in the conference with three goalkeepers boasting at least one clean sheet.
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“I think about how she (Nakfoor) kept a lot of clean sheets,” Medina said. “That’s something that keeps me awake and keeps me playing safe, trying to keep the clean sheets that she has.”
The success of Medina and the Bruin backline – featuring a denying performance from junior defender Paloma Daubert, earning her her third Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honor this season – came alongside a relatively silent evening from the offense.
UCLA’s inability to get on the scoreboard cost it its six-game win streak and an extra two conference points. The Bruins did not fail to generate chances throughout the night, though, and they outshot their opponent 15-5, with as many attempts on frame as the Huskies had of any kind.
Sophomore midfielder Grace Shank powered a free kick toward the goal in the 17th minute, ultimately sending the frame reverberating as her shot hit off the crossbar. Shank has narrowly missed connecting with the back of the net by hitting a ball off the top woodwork three times this season.
As the minutes ticked off toward 90 by the end of the second half, the Bruins turned up the notch on their offensive pressure, taking four shots – two on frame – across the final five minutes of the game.
Senior forward Oruha Hayashi’s second shot of the night came in the 85th minute and forced a jumping save from Washington goalkeeper Tanner Ijams. Ijams was tested again shortly after, when junior defender Nicki Fraser got a piece of a corner kick in the 90th minute to direct a shot toward the bottom right corner of the goal.
Fans at Wallis Annenberg Stadium attempted to see through the mass of players if the ball had reached the net. The verdict: Ijams had denied it.
Despite dominating 67% of the possession, UCLA ended the night with the same offensive outcome as Washington.
“We have box entries, we have corners, we have multiple crosses and the only thing is we couldn’t find the back of the net,” said coach Gof Boyoko. “But overall, good performance. I’m proud of the girls.”
And indeed, holding the reigning Big Ten champions to zero goals comes with its victories.
Freshman defender Anna Wilson played all 90 minutes for the second consecutive game, making her a fixture of the backline alongside Daubert, who has not sat on the bench once this season. As a unit, the Bruins defense proved effective at both stopping breakaway attacks and set piece threats.
“We definitely have evolved a bit, and we’ve gotten a lot better at tracking our runners,” Wilson said. “That was something that we struggled with a bit earlier in the season – tracking runners in the box. So that’s been something that we’ve really tried to get more disciplined at, and it showed tonight.”
The transition to Medina in goal – which occurred after Nakfoor exited Oct. 8’s game versus Indiana early with a knee injury – has also meant UCLA lost one of its most vocal communicators on the field.
“The same way Daphne has been a leader, … I feel like I could also keep doing that,” Medina said. “I’ve been playing with, for example, Paloma for a while. I’ve been with Nicki for a while, with (junior forward) Sammy (Sanchez). … I have the confidence and the trust of my backline to just scream at them the same way they can do to me.”
The Bruins will hit the road once again for a string of away games, starting with Iowa on Thursday. Medina will likely stay in the net for the time being, as Nakfoor’s availability is currently being assessed on a week-by-week basis.
“We saw the fact on the ball, and tactically we were better,” Boyoko said. “Now we still have to score a goal.”
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