PULLMAN, Wash. – The Washington State soccer team (No. 20/21) scored four goals, Sunday, in front of a crowd of 1,305 fans at Lower Soccer Field, defeating the visiting UCLA Bruins, 4-2. The Cougars (9-2-0, 2-1-0) netted two goals in the first half, before UCLA (5-6-0, 1-2-0) evened the score early in the second period. WSU scored a third goal just two minutes later and never looked back, adding a fourth goal in the 65th minute.

“I'm so proud of this group today for their resiliency,” WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger said. “We tried, in our mobility today, to unbalance UCLA as much as we could and we did a good job with it.”

Playing in front of the second-largest crowd in school history, WSU scored the game-winning goal in the 52nd minute, courtesy of junior Kaitlyn Johnson. After the Cougars conceded two goals early in the second half, Johnson poked home her fourth goal of the season to give WSU a 3-2 lead. The UCLA goalkeeper was unable to control an initial shot by WSU senior Cara Wegner. Johnson pounced on the rebound, poking it into the back of the net from eight yards out.

“That's what big players do, “Shulenberger said of Johnson's goal. “She was fresh and we knew she was going to be a weapon for us today.”

The Cougars netted their first goal in the 26th minute. UCLA's Claire Winter made a hard challenge on WSU senior Kourtney Guetlein just outside the Bruins' box. The challenge warranted a caution and a free kick just 19 yards out from UCLA's goal. Senior Cara Wegner stood over the ball and bent it around the wall of UCLA players and into the bottom right corner. The goal was Wegner's fourth of the season and gave WSU a 1-0 lead.

WSU redshirt-senior Beau Bremer doubled the Cougars' lead in the 39th minute. After a UCLA defender mishandled the ball, Bremer stepped in to poke the ball free, look up, and smash a shot into the bottom left corner from 16 yards out.

Returning from halftime, the Bruins went on the offensive, scoring their first goal in the 49th minute. UCLA's Darian Jenkins found the back of the net after Madison Tye played a ball over the top. Jenkins evened the score just over one minute later, slotting home a cross from four yards out.

After WSU's Kaitlyn Johnson netted the game-winner six minutes later, senior Kourtney Guetlein added an insurance goal for the Cougars. Kaitlyn Johnson served a ball into the box from the left side, where Guetlein hit the ball first time off of the volley with her right foot, sending the shot across the box and into the left side-netting.

On the defensive end, redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Ella Dederick picked up her ninth win, making five saves in the match. WSU out-fouled UCLA, 12-9, while earning five corner kicks to the Bruins' four. WSU improved to 8-0-0 when scoring first this season, and have not lost when leading at halftime since Oct. 29, 2010.

The Cougars will be on the road next week, facing Utah, Friday, Oct. 9 in Salt Lake City, before traveling to Boulder, Colo., to play Colorado, Sunday, Oct. 11.

COUGAR NOTES

The crowd of 1,305 was WSU's second-largest crowd in school history, behind only the 1,652 fans in attendance when WSU tied No. 4 UCLA, 0-0, Oct. 14, 2011…the Cougars improved to 6-2-2 in program history with a home attendance above 1,000…Sunday's win snapped a 10-match winless streak against the Bruins, dating back to Oct. 23, 2005…the Cougars are now 3-16-4 all-time against UCLA…WSU earned its 100 all-time win in the month of October, improving to 100-88-22…the Cougars have won 30-straight matches when leading at halftime…WSU hasn't lost when leading at halftime since Oct. 29, 2010…when leading at home, WSU hasn't lost in 84-consecutive matches, since Sept. 16, 1989…Wegner's goal was her fourth of the season and 10th in her career…Wegner's assist was her first of the season and sixth of her career…Bremer's goal was her second of the season and 10th of her career…Kaitlyn Johnson's goal was her fourth of the season, fifth game-winner of her career, and eighth overall goal in her career…Guetlein's goal was her team-leading fifth goal of the season and 11th of her career.