The last thing you want to do is make Iris Mora mad.
Moments after a Pepperdine defender sent Mora sprawling in the
box, the diminutive sophomore forward got her revenge. Mora broke a
scoreless tie with a goal in the 62nd minute, propelling host UCLA
to a 2-0 victory over the Waves Sunday in the second round of the
NCAA tournament.
“We felt like Iris was robbed on the penalty call,”
UCLA coach Jill Ellis said. “She was pretty upset about it.
So for her to get one right away was great.”
Mora’s goal had to be a relief for the Bruins (18-1-3)
because the match felt eerily similar to last season’s
third-round loss to Texas A&M. In that game, UCLA outshot the
Aggies 21-0, but ultimately lost in penalty kicks.
The memory of that match grew more vivid with every missed
chance against the Waves. Despite outshooting Pepperdine 22-1, UCLA
found itself scoreless midway through the second half ““ one
mistake away from an early playoff exit.
But just when it seemed that Pepperdine (14-6-1) might wrest
control of the match away from the Bruins, Mora stole it right
back.
She headed a floating pass from junior defender Amy Fazio past
Pepperdine goalkeeper Anna Picarelli and into the open net. Less
than a minute later, sophomore Jill Oakes found teammate junior
Lindsay Greco, who beat Picarelli again to give UCLA a commanding
two-goal lead.
“We were getting shots all over the first half,”
Oakes said. “It was just a matter of putting them into the
net. Once those two goals came ““ boom boom ““ we were
just on fire. We knew we had the game in our hands.”
Pepperdine’s tactical style was no match for the
Bruins’ physicality and skill throughout much of the
match.
Instead of hunkering down defensively and relying on their
counterattack as most teams have against UCLA, the Waves played the
Bruins straight up. Pepperdine coach Tim Ward believed his
team’s best defense would be to attack relentlessly, and it
did ““ albeit without much success.
“We knew we couldn’t match up with them
athletically, so our only hope was to let the ball outrun their
legs,” Ward said. “But eventually the fatigue started
setting into our legs. It got to the point where when we won the
ball, that was our rest.
“We were never dangerous,” he added.
UCLA goalkeeper freshman Arianna Criscione was rarely tested,
making just one routine save in the closing seconds of the match.
Picarelli, on the other hand, faced a barrage of Bruin shots,
recording 11 saves and frustrating the UCLA offense throughout the
first half.
Mora, senior Sarah-Gayle Swanson and freshman Bristyn Davis each
had scoring chances turned aside before the Bruins finally got on
the scoreboard.
UCLA, which defeated San Diego 2-0 in the first round on Nov.
14, will host No. 13 seed Kansas on Friday in the round of 16.
Mora, however, was not thinking about the Jayhawks after the
game.
She was still focused on the takedown in the box.
“I’m mad because sometimes the referees are too
scared to call that,” Mora said. “But I play better
when I’m mad.”
Kansas would be well served to remember that.