Wisconsin Soccer Central

A battered and bruised University of Wisconsin women's soccer team battled national powerhouse UCLA on Friday night at the McClimon Complex.

Eventually, the short-handed Badgers were beaten. But not after putting up quite a fight.

Highly regarded freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond scored her first collegiate goal in the 56th minute, and junior goalkeeper Chante' Sandiford made a great save to turn back UW's best chance as the third-ranked Bruins got past the No. 20 Badgers 1-0 in a Wisconsin Tournament match watched by 984 fans.

"For this being our first game ... I'm happy with where we are," said UW coach Paula Wilkins, whose team had last week's scheduled opener at UW-Green Bay postponed due to heavy rain. "There's obviously things we can correct, and obviously UCLA is a team that can exploit some things that are your weakness. It's good for us to build on."

The Badgers are looking to build on their breakthrough 2009 season, when they advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. They certainly didn't look overmatched against UCLA, a national semifinalist each of the past seven years.

"They've got some good players and work very hard," Bruins coach Jillian Ellis said of the Badgers. "Their mentality's very good and it was a good challenge for us, definitely ... They're obviously going to be a very tough team."

They did it without their top two forwards, Laurie Nosbusch (Mequon Homestead) and Paige Adams, who are both injured. Nosbusch, a junior who led UW with six goals and six assists last fall, might be able to play in Sunday's tournament finale against Cincinnati. But Adams, a sophomore who missed eight games last year because of injury, is out for the season after suffering a torn ACL in her knee over the summer.

What's more, starting midfielders Alev Kelter and Leigh Williams only returned to practice midway through the week after injuries. Two freshmen, defender Catie Sessions and midfielder-forward Kodee Williams, started and logged significant minutes as did sophomore midfielder Joana Bielefeld (Brookfield Central), a transfer from Ohio.

"We've been playing around with a bunch of different things," Wilkins said. "We really haven't had anything set, so we were a little leery going into this game about what system we were going to play. We haven't had most of these kids for preseason."

On the other side, the Bruins' starting lineup included five players who played for U.S. national teams over the summer: Defender Lauren Barnes and midfielder Kylie Wright were with the Under-23 team, while forward Sydney Leroux, midfielder-forward Zakia Bywaters and Richmond played at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Germany.

But even with all that firepower, UCLA mustered but one shot in the first half – Bywaters fired high in the 23rd minute – and easily could have been trailing if not for an excellent save by Sandiford.

"I think a little bit of it is it's a physical matchup, it's a really physical matchup. For a lot of our players, it's very different," Ellis said of her team's slow start going forward. "(The Badgers) competed for every ball that was loose, and when we got the ball, they were stepping hard to it."

UW generated the best opportunities in the opening 45 minutes, both coming off flip throw-ins by right back Lindsey Johnson (Mequon Homestead).

Johnson's heave from the right sideline in the 28th fell to sophomore Monica Lam-Feist, but her point-blank shot was parried away by Sandiford. Another long throw by Johnson from the left sideline in the 40th landed in the 6-yard box on the far post, but no one could get a head or foot on it before Sandiford scooped it up.

The Bruins, who thrashed Cal Poly 7-0 in their opener last weekend, generated more offense in the second half. It wasn't a surprise that three of their national team players factored into the lone goal.

Leroux didn't manage a shot on the night, but was taken down by a trio of UW defenders on the top left corner of the penalty box – Leigh Williams was issued a yellow card for the challenge.

Barnes took the free kick and Richmond, the nation's consensus No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2010, came out of a pack and was first to the ball, redirecting it past UW junior keeper Michele Dalton.

"It was unfortunate. We had done so well," Wilkins said. "Obviously they have one of the best players in college soccer in Sydney Leroux, and we did such a great job – their two forwards are the two forwards for the U.S. U-20 World Cup team. Not to give up a shot (on goal) in the first half is fantastic.

"But we always talk about, 'It always comes down to details.' Obviously we'll see on the video who's marking what and just clean it up. Playing a team like this is going to expose that stuff, so we can go back and get better."

UCLA – Jenna Richmond (Lauren Barnes) 56

UCLA: Chante' Sandiford; Summer Williams, Lucretia Lee, Ariana Martinez, Lauren Barnes; Kylie Wright, Charney Burk, Jenna Richmond; Dana Walls, Zakia Bywaters, Sydney Leroux. Substitutes: Ahsha Smith, Chelsea Cline, Chelsea Braun, Liz Zadro, Elise Britt, Iman Bearde.
WISCONSIN: Michele Dalton; Catie Sessions, Taryn Francel, Meghan Flannery, Lindsey Johnson; Kodee Williams, Joana Bielefeld, Erin Jacobsen, Leigh Williams; Alev Kelter, Monica Lam-Feist. Substitutes: Lindsey Hamann, Darcy Riley, Derya Kelter, Alyssa Vogel, Lauren Cochlin. 

Saves: UCLA (Sandiford) 2, W (Dalton) 3. Shots: UCLA 9, W 5. Fouls: UCLA 10, W 15. Corner kicks: UCLA 3, W 2. Offsides: UCLA 4, W 2. Discipline: UCLA – Wright (caution, 35), Barnes (caution, 82); W – L. Williams (caution, 56). Att. – 984.