Women's soccer: Santa Clara upsets UCLA, beats a No. 2 team again

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — For the second year in a row and third time in the last four years, Santa Clara women's soccer knocked off the second-ranked team in the country by handling No. 2 UCLA in a 2-0 win Thursday night at Stevens Stadium.

Last season, the Broncos (2-3) beat then-No. 2 North Carolina 1-0 and won at No. 2 Stanford 1-0 in double overtime in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

HIGHLIGHTS | Courtney Ogren made a big save to keep the match scoreless in the first half and Skylar Smith netted her first goal of the season as the #SCUBroncos defeated No. 2 @UCLAWSoccer! #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/eEtZZyNJa9

— Santa Clara Women's Soccer (@SCUWomensSoccer) September 6, 2019

The Broncos were on the front foot for much of Thursday night, collecting 13 shots to eight for the Bruins (4-1) while also putting five on goal and forcing UCLA to register an own goal for the first tally of the match.

The own goal and 1-0 lead were set up by freshman Izzy D'Aquila, whose solid offensive play led to a corner in the 20th minute. Julie Doyle took the set piece and found the head of Machaela George, whose shot went off the post but hit a UCLA defender in the back and went into the net.

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Santa Clara added an insurance goal in the 56th on some pretty passing to make it 2-0. Doyle took the ball on the left side and passed into the box to D'Aquila who touched a ball to Skyler Smith running into the box and her one-timer beat the keeper.

Goalkeeper Courtney Ogren helped a strong backline with four saves to secure the first shutout of the year for Santa Clara.

UCLA entered the match having allowed just one goal on the season and hadn't been shutout since Sept. 21, 2018 in a 1-0 defeat at Washington State, a span of 18 matches.

VIDEO | Hear head coach @SCUJerrySmith discuss the #SCUBroncos 2-0 win over No. 2 @UCLAWSoccer Thursday night.
➡️Have now beaten the No. 2 team in the country two years in a row and three of the last four.
➡️Picked up their first shutout of the season.#StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/a4QAfUzzYa

— Santa Clara Women's Soccer (@SCUWomensSoccer) September 6, 2019