Scoring two goals in your first collegiate game could be considered lucky. But repeating that feat two days later is no fluke.
Freshman forward Danesha Adams scored both of UCLA’s goals against LMU on Sunday to give the No. 9 Bruins a hard-earned 2-1 win over the Lions at LMU’s Sullivan Field.
“She’s done very well so far but the key for her is that she has a great complement of players around her,” said UCLA coach Jill Ellis. “She’s someone who is going to grow especially with the players around her.”
Adams put the Bruins on the board in the second minute as she calmly gathered a rebound and slotted a shot past Lions’ goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro after senior Lindsay Greco cracked a shot from 18 yards out that hit the crossbar and bounced fortuitously to Adams.
However, LMU would see that luck swing back to its side. A Lions’ corner kick in the eighth minute created chaos in the penalty area and when the dust settled, the ball had bounced to Jennifer Horn on an unsuccessful clearance attempt by the Bruins resulting in an easy 12-yard goal by Horn.
For the remainder of the first half and 20 minutes into the second half, LMU controlled the tempo of the match, denying the Bruin forwards any attempts to gather in long balls from the defense.
“Their defense played very well, we were playing a lot of long balls and we could not settle the ball down at all,” Adams said. “When they scored, we lost our possession game and coach Ellis had to tell us to slow down.”
The Lions also had some success in attack, as they were able to penetrate the Bruins’ defense and force freshman goalkeeper Valerie Henderson to make tough saves.
“I think in the defense we could have played better after we got a surprise goal that was unlucky, but we picked it back up in the second half,” Henderson said.
Henderson had to move quickly across the goal and dive to her right to tip away a shot by LMU’s Jamie Bell in the 48th minute. Then in the 52nd minute a scramble in front of the net was stopped by Henderson’s quick feet as she got a foot on a low shot seemingly destined for the back of the net. Henderson’s heroics kept the game tied at 1-1, which paved the way for Adams’ game-winning second goal in the 78th minute.
After a poor clearance from the LMU defense caused by Adams, Bruin junior midfielder Jill Oakes sent a perfect pass to a streaking Bristyn Davis on the left side of the field, just before the beginning of the penalty area. Davis easily beat an LMU defender and slid a shot past Yukihiro. The ball appeared to be going into the net, but like a seasoned veteran, Adams rushed to the ball and slid to make sure Davis’ shot went in, knocking the ball into the open net.
Things were much easier on Friday night at Drake Stadium as the Bruins easily dispatched San Diego 4-0. Adams and Davis both scored two goals and four different players recorded assists against the hapless Toreros.
The team played both games without forward Iris Mora, the team’s leading goal scorer from a year ago. Mora, a member of the Mexican National Team, returns from Athens, Greece, this week but will not rejoin the team for several weeks.