The Ducks fell to No. 3 UCLA 1-0 Friday night at Pape Field in front of a record 944 fans to fall to 5-6-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the Pac-12. This was all too familiar a feeling for the team after losing several games to top-10 ranked opponents by one goal recently.
The game was far from pretty with neither team playing at the level they are capable of. UCLA had moments where they showed off their brilliant speed, usually in a two-person game with Zakiya Bywaters@@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/bywaters_zakiya00.html@@ and Ally Courtnall.@@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/courtnall_ally00.html@@ Both exhibited the ability to burst past defenders up the sidelines and when caught in traffic they had the handle to break ankles.
The Ducks defense was something to hang their hat on, however, limiting the talented Bruins club to a sole goal from Taylor Smith@@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/smith_taylor00.html@@ with 24 minutes left in the first half.  Aside from that, they displayed toughness against the Bruins’ forwards, especially freshman Mariah Powers and senior Nicole Bakke,@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=237&SPSID=4315@@ who battled until the final minute.
“From the get-go you are a little taken aback with all the great players they have up top,” Bakke said of defending the talented Bruins front court. “You just have to organize your team every moment of the game, and I thought we did really well. Organizing, stepping hard, getting in hard. LT, the other centerback, I thought she did a great job and I mean, what can you do? You have to contain them. I thought we did really well at that tonight.”
Easy as it might be for them to talk off the field with their heads held high after a tough battle with one of the nation’s best teams, they have been in this situation before. Avoiding built up frustration is something head coach Tara Erickson@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=237&SPSID=4313@@ preached in the post-game huddle.
“All of them said we competed; we put out an effort,” Kristen Parr@@above link@@ said about Erickson’s message after the game. “We didn’t choke. We played a good game. We made it through the hard patch of the Pac-12, three very good teams recently, and now we keep playing and building and putting a whole 90 minutes together with the patches we’ve had we will come out with a few wins.”
The turning point At times the Ducks matched the Bruins physically, and at times they held the ball for almost two-minute stretches. However, one look at the stat sheet quickly points out who the more aggressive team was. The Ducks lost the battle of shots on goal 17-5 and corner kicks 6-0. The heart might have been there and the defense there to back them up, but it is very hard to win against any team if you don’t capitalize on opportunities to score.
On the horizon The Ducks have dealt with a brutal conference schedule so far, playing against teams such as Portland, BYU, Stanford, and now UCLA, all ranked when they played the Ducks. With seven games left, they will look to get some conference wins, starting with USC on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Pape Field.