Pesky Northridge Stuns UCLA, 2-1

Not until it was over did they afford themselves a rest, rolling on the ground with exhausted delight.

The Cal State Northridge women’s soccer team, battered but not beaten, upset 14th-ranked UCLA, 2-1, Tuesday night in a nonconference game played almost entirely on the Matadors’ half of the field.

But goals, not time of possession, win games, and Northridge (2-2) upended the Bruins (1-2) by scoring twice despite a 17-6 shot disadvantage and by playing frantic defense.

The victory evened the short series between the teams at 1-1. UCLA defeated Northridge, 3-0, last season.

After Northridge’s Janay Duran scored in the 16th minute and UCLA’s Sherice Bartling answered seconds before halftime, Matador forward Marilyn Huschka put the Matadors up for good with a goal in the 57th minute.

The junior transfer from El Camino College found a seam in the center of the UCLA defense, sprinted to receive a pass from Amy Gill and booted a 15-yard shot by Bruin goalkeeper Lindsay Culp.

After that, it was up to the Northridge defense, specifically sweeper Marrica Pichaikul and stopper Pam Karbowski.

Outside fullbacks Kari Attebery and Jera Sanneman were shaky at best and freshman goalkeeper Tawny Takagi was fighting the ball. It was left to Pichaikul, a former Grant High star, and Karbowski, a guard on the Matador women’s basketball team, to repel repeated threats by the more-talented Bruins.

“We got beat up pretty bad last weekend,” said Northridge Coach Brian Wiesner, whose team suffered 3-0 losses to Arizona State and UC Irvine at the Loyola Marymount tournament.

“So we wanted to better organize the defense. We gave everyone a smaller job.”

Pichaikul’s task was simply to clear the ball from the penalty area. Karbowski’s was to shadow dangerous UCLA forward Traci Arkenberg.

Both Matadors came through, although Pichaikul left the game after a collision with Arkenberg in the 79th minute. Karbowski moved back to sweeper and presided over some tense final moments, including an apparent tying goal by Arkenberg that was disallowed by an offsides call.

“We knew UCLA was a great team but we maintained our composure and we weren’t going to let anything stop us, not even Marrica getting hurt,” Karbowski said.