No. 5 UCLA defeats No. 9 Stanford 1-0 as Pac-12 title race comes down to the wire

LOS ANGELES – Senior Maricarmen Reyes scored in the 86th minute to give No. 5 UCLA a 1-0 victory over No. 9 Stanford in front of a sell-out crowd of 2,176 at Wallis Annenberg Stadium.

After a throw-in by Quincy McMahon, Lexi Wright sent the ball into the center of the box for Mia Fishel, who sent a touch over to Reyes. The Mexican National Team star one-timed it to the right of Stanford goalkeeper Katie Meyer for the game’s only goal at 86:00. The goal was Reyes’ fourth of the season and her third game-winner.

Goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy earned the shutout, her eighth of the year, keeping the high-scoring Cardinal off the board with four saves on 11 Stanford shots. Defender Kylie Kerr had a save of her own in the 34th minute, heading away an open-net shot by Katie Duong to keep the game scoreless. Meyer had two saves on six Bruin shots.

The victory improves UCLA’s record to 14-0-3 and 6-0-3 in the Pac-12, while Stanford drops to 12-4-1, 6-2-1. The Bruins remain two points behind conference leader USC but move up two points on Stanford, who drops down to third place in the Pac-12. UCLA will next host California on Sunday, Oct. 31 at 2pm before closing the regular season with a home showdown with USC on Friday, Nov. 5 at 8pm.

(Photo Credit: Rand Bleimeister)

The Bruins break through with the go-ahead goal by @reyeszmari, assisted by @miafishel10 and Lexi Wright!

?: @Pac12Network
?: https://t.co/rnlC7pramX#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/QGB9yot8Ys

— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 29, 2021

KYLIE. KERR. ?

What a save on the line by the junior defender to keep it scoreless!

?: @Pac12Network
?: https://t.co/rnlC7pramX#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/490DH4uZDr

— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 29, 2021