#7 UCLA traveled up to Santa Barbara for a Friday night game against #2 UCSB, and ran out of steam in the second half, resulting in a lopsided victory for the Gauchos.

After coming out to a slow start, the Bruins allowed 4 straight goals, before answering with 3 of their own. After a 3-7 first half, the Bruins appeared to come out to the second half fired up and ready to pick up their game, starting with a goal from Senior Lauren Ariniello, assisted by senior Hayley Wheeler. Wheeler had been out for the previous week's games and practices due to a recurring injury, but led the Bruin offense, netting 2 goals and 2 assists.

The Bruins' relentless pressure on defense, led by senior Erica Zug, and sophomores Michelle Rice and Isabel Angell, dictated the pace of the game, rushing the Gauchos through a fast paced offense throughout. However, the Bruins' lack of depth became apparent 12 minutes into the second half. With only one sub in the midfield, and missing their second leading points scorer on attack due to a school conflict, the high pressure ran out of steam and UCSB took full advantage, scoring 4 goals in the next 1:45.

The Bruins struggled with controlling the ball in the midfield all game with 5 draw controls versus the Gauchos' 16, and 21 total turnovers. Their inconsistency in the midfield contributed to multiple failed transitions, and lengthy UCSB offensive possessions that clearly exhausted the high stakes defense. While the Bruins found several clean looks when they did have possession, they simply didn't have enough minutes on the offensive end to stage a proper comeback.

The Bruins will get a short break from their challenging schedule over the next two weeks for finals and spring break, but jump right back in with the Rocky Mountain Shoot-Out April 2-4. There they face three more ranked WDIA opponents in the shape of #8 Brigham Young, #11 Colorado State, and #6 Colorado.

The #6 Bruins came out strong as a team to the first half against an athletic UC-Davis squad, going up 3-1 in the first 8 minutes with three assisted goals. The Aggies responded with a five goal streak of their own that included two free positions, ultimately ending the half with a 7-4 lead.

UCLA came out on fire in the second half and netted 3 goals in 8 minutes to tie up the game at 7-7. The Bruin's relentless pressure held Davis scoreless for the first 21 minutes of the second half, but the Bruins made some key mistakes going into the home stretch. After a stunning five off-side calls on UCLA during the final 9 minutes, the Aggies took advantage of 3 of the 5 man-up breaks, and finished the game 10-9.

A total of eight Bruins put points on the board including 3 goals from senior Hayley Wheeler, 2 goals from sophomore Antoinette Brou, and 2 assists from sophomore Devon Comito. Senior Emily Beugalmans also had a standout performance in goal, tallying 13 saves, and holding all but three Aggies scoreless. Next up, the Bruins take on San Diego State at home.

After heavy rainfall in Southern California, UCLA's home field practically turned to mush over night. But the Bruins came out fired up to their home opener against UC-San Diego today, even with a starting defender and their two leading point scorers benched for injuries. With only two subs, the Bruins turned on their midfield pressure, holding the Tritons to only 5 shots and controlling 16 draws.

Nine players put points on the board in the 18-3 victory, including hat tricks from senior Mary O'Reilly and sophomore Antoinette Brou, and 3 assists each from sophomores Allie Simpson and Devon Comito. Senior defender, Erica Zug led the team with 5 ground ball controls. Tomorrow, the #6 Bruins will face the #4 UC-Davis Aggies at 12PM on the UCLA IM Field.

The Bruins started off the weekend flat against a talented Santa Clara team. It was a poor shooting performance from UCLA, hitting 6 pipes, and ultimately sinking only 5 of 27 attempts over the course of the match. After a 2-10 deficit at halftime, they weren't able to dig themselves out of the hole, and finished the day with a tough 5-18 loss to the #2 team in the WDIA.

Sunday proved to be a new day, as the Bruins arrived at Chico State fired up to take on a second WWLL North opponent. After scoring a blistering 12 goals in the first half, UCLA ended the weekend with a 19-8 victory. Ten Bruins contributed points to the game, including a hat trick from sophomore attacker Morgan Oberstein and a season high 6 points from sophomore midfielder Devon Comito. The Bruins will host their first home games of the season this coming weekend against UC-San Diego and #4 UC-Davis.

After a strong showing at the Santa Barbara Shoot Out last weekend, the Bruins jumped from #10 in Lacrosse Magazine's pre-season rankings to #5 in USL's first WDIA poll of the regular season. UCLA has a tough schedule over the next few months, taking on UCSB, Colorado, BYU, Colorado State and Cal Poly all on the road.

Next up the Bruins will face #2 Santa Clara at the Broncos' home turf.

February 17 - USL WDIA Division 1 Complete Top 25