CARY, N.C. “”mdash; It’s one thing when an opponent is just
better.
It’s something entirely different when they’re just
lucky.
And it’s downright scary when they’re both.
That’s the predicament the UCLA women’s soccer team
faced on Friday as No. 1 North Carolina not only outplayed the
Bruins in its 3-0 victory in the NCAA College Cup Semifinals at SAS
Stadium in Cary, N.C., but the Tar Heels received two gift goals on
misplays by Bruin goalkeeper Arianna Criscione.
The combination of the constant Carolina pressure and the
ill-timed mishaps spelled doom for No. 4 seed UCLA (20-2-3), who
lost to North Carolina for the second time this season and again
missed a chance to claim a national title that continues to elude
the powerhouse program.
“It was a tough loss, and it was a tough way to
lose,” coach Jill Ellis said.
“We gift wrapped them a couple of goals, and it made it a
lot tougher,” she added.
Up to this point in the season, the Bruins had been able to get
by just fine with freshman Criscione in goal. Criscione, who
started the last 11 games of the season after a knee injury forced
last year’s starter Sarah Lombardo to the sidelines, faced
very few shots and was rarely tested before Friday.
But Ellis knew the vaunted North Carolina offense would
challenge her goalkeeper, and she had said days prior to the game
that Criscione would have to play “the game of her
life” if the Bruins were to have a chance to win.
Well, she certainly didn’t play the game of her life. And
consequently, the Bruins never really had a chance to win.
In the 23rd minute, Tar Heel forward Alyssa Ramsey sent a corner
kick into the Bruin box. Criscione called for the ball, but she
misjudged it and it floated over her head. North Carolina defender
Kendall Fletcher was waiting at the back post, and she had no
trouble putting the goal away to give her team a 1-0 lead.
But that wasn’t even the worst of it.
In the 29th minute, Bruin defender Kathryn Lee made a pass back
to Criscione after stealing the ball from North Carolina’s
Heather O’Reilly.
The freshman goalkeeper, however, whiffed her kick attempt on
the rolling ball, and the Tar Heels’ second goal trickled
past the end line. The incredibly ugly own goal was a tough pill
for the Bruins to swallow.
“When you have a faux pas like that, it’s kind of a
kick in the stomach,” Ellis said. “That’s the
gut-killer right there. To come back from that is tough.”
Especially when you’re trying to do it against the best
team in the country. North Carolina (27-0-0) had little trouble in
the postseason, winning its first six games 8-0, 5-0, 7-0, 3-0, 3-0
and, in the NCAA championship game against Connecticut, won 6-0,
shattering the previous record of 22 goals scored in a single
tournament. The team outscored its opponents 113-11 this
season.
The Tar Heels controlled play from the outset Friday, dominating
the possession, winning 50-50 balls, connecting passes, and
creating scoring chances galore. North Carolina outshot UCLA, 22-5,
and held a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks.
“Their pressure was just tremendous,” Ellis said.
“We often find ourselves doing that to other teams, but when
you’re on the receiving end, you tend to struggle and
can’t think quickly enough to deal with the
pressure.”
UCLA, a team that hadn’t allowed a goal in its first four
tournament games, found itself in an unusual position on Friday,
trailing early and wholly unable to put together any passes to
create something of a scoring opportunity for forwards Iris Mora
and Bristyn Davis.
Most of that is a testament to super-talented North Carolina and
the game plan of Anson Dorrance, coach of 18 national title-winning
Tar Heel teams.
“Obviously we’re ecstatic to beat a tremendous UCLA
team,” Dorrance said afterward. “I really felt that we
played as well as we possibly could in the first half. That set an
excellent tone for us in the match.”
But even though North Carolina dominated play in that crucial
first half, the Tar Heels continually misfired on excellent scoring
opportunities. It was only through the costly mistakes of the
relatively inexperienced freshman goalkeeper that they were able to
get on the scoreboard.
“We suffered a little bit with a freshman in goal,”
Ellis said. “When you have a freshman in a big game,
there’s a lot of pressure.”
“Goalkeeper is such a critical position. If you make a
mistake, it’s going to cost you,” she said later.
Dorrance shifted his team from a 3-4-3 formation to a more
defensive 4-4-2 formation late in the second half in order to salt
the game away, and freshman Heather O’Reilly secured the
victory at the 85 minute and 32 second mark when she sent a
blistering ball into the side netting past a diving Criscione.
“I think player for player, we’re very equal
teams,” senior defender Nandi Pryce said. “We both have
very good players on our teams. But when you’re in front of
your home fans with 8,000 or 10,000 people rooting for you wearing
Carolina blue, it’s going to make a difference.”
The exact attendance number was 8,267, but excuses just
weren’t going to do. North Carolina was clearly the better
team, a team that probably didn’t need any help to earn the
victory. However, the Bruins insisted on helping them out by making
mistakes, and consequently, made the trip back to Westwood a day
earlier than expected.
“I’m very proud of the way the team played all
season,” Ellis said. “What I told them after the game
is that one game doesn’t define you. We had a great year, and
I’m very proud of them.”
Unfortunately, this year’s Bruins may be defined by this
one game ““ the mistakes in goal and the inability to hang
with a team that just played better.
So the dynasty lives on, and UCLA is left waiting for next
year.