Oct. 10, 2008
LOS ANGELES - Kristina Larsen was credited with the game-winning goal in the second overtime and No. 3 UCLA defeated No. 25 Washington State 2-1 in the Pacific-10 Conference women's soccer opener for both schools.
The game-winner came at 101:29 when the Cougars (6-4-2, 0-1-0 Pac-10) tried to clear the ball and it ricocheted off of Larsen's back and into the net.
Washington State was within 57 seconds of a victory before UCLA (10-0-2, 1-0-0) tied the match 1-1 on Lauren Cheney's team-leading sixth goal of the season.
"We showed the type of character to come into a venue like this and get a win and we were right there," WSU Head Coach Matt Potter said. "Obviously, it is a difficult loss and we have to find a way to regroup for Sunday at USC.
The Cougars took a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the match when goalkeeper Lindsay Parlee sent on a long kick down the right side and Elysse Van Leer gathered the ball, beat a defender, and buried a shot inside the far post for her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Van Leer's goal came at 4:47 and was the first for Washington State at UCLA in 218:31 dating back to 2003 and the first for the Cougars against the Bruins on any field since 2004, spanning 359:16. It was also the first goal yielded by UCLA in 982:50. The assist for Parlee was the first by a Cougar goalkeeper in school history.
The Cougars nearly made Van Leer's tally stand up as Parlee made a career-high 10 saves to preserve the lead for most of the night.
Washington State plays at No. 5 USC, a 3-2 overtime winner over Washington, Friday, at 1 p.m. Sunday.
