Just a few minutes after scoring a goal that sent the UCLA
women’s soccer team to the NCAA College Cup, Caitlin Ursini
sought out coach Jill Ellis on the way to the post-match press
conference.
“I don’t know what to say,” the sophomore
midfielder told her coach.
That’s understandable. It’s not like she has been in
the spotlight very often.
Ursini, who had not scored a goal since her first collegiate
match in August 2003, picked the perfect time to snap her scoreless
streak. She blasted a free kick from outside the top of the penalty
area into the lower left corner of the net in the 64th minute to
give UCLA a 1-0 victory over host Ohio State and a berth in the
NCAA semifinals.
It’s the third trip to the College Cup in the past five
years for the Bruins, who will face Princeton on Friday.
“It’s a great relief to finally get one,”
Ursini said. “We had been practicing set pieces all week. I
knew that I had to keep it low, and that’s what I
did.”
Ursini, who missed a large chunk of the season with a fractured
wrist, is the latest unlikely hero to step up for the 14th-seeded
Bruins (17-6) during their playoff run.
The San Pedro native lost her starting midfield job to junior
Crystal James after returning from an injury last month, but
regained it in time for the playoffs by proving to Ellis that she
was mentally ready.
“She’s one of the stories of this team,” Ellis
said. “This is huge for her confidence. She’s had to
fight really hard to get back her starting position.”
Ursini’s goal was a huge lift for the Bruins, who
controlled the flow of the game against the sixth-seeded Buckeyes
(19-4-3), but had trouble finishing their opportunities. Though
forwards Iris Mora, Bristyn Davis and Danesha Adams combined for 21
of UCLA’s 24 shots, not one of them could solve Ohio State
goalkeeper Emily Haynam, who made eight saves.
It was the freshman Adams, however, who set up Ursini’s
goal by taking advantage of her greatest weapon ““ speed.
Taking a pass from Mora, Adams broke away from the lumbering Ohio
State defense but was tripped on the way to the goal by defender
Emily Francis, who received a red card and was ejected from the
match.
The foul left Ohio State, which previously had been undefeated
at home, a player down for the rest of the match and set the stage
for Ursini’s improbable strike.
“It was a good call by the referee,” said junior
midfielder Jill Oakes, who was trailing the play. “Danesha
blazed past the defense and she was going straight for the goal. We
knew they tackle pretty dirty, so this was no surprise.”
If it was Ursini and Adams who sparked UCLA’s offense,
Oakes was the key to the Bruins’ defensive success.
Matched up against midfielder Laura Dickenmann, Ohio
State’s second-leading goal scorer and the catalyst for its
offense, Oakes held the vaunted freshman in check. Each time
Dickenmann touched the ball, the UCLA bench frantically shouted to
mark her, and Oakes, who had memorized Dickenmann’s
tendencies by watching her on film, responded.
The Bruin midfielder shadowed Dickenmann all over the field,
limiting her to just one shot.
“Shutting her down was primarily my responsibility,”
Oakes said. “I knew as long as we didn’t lose track of
her or let her get behind us, we’d be fine.”
UCLA, which has not allowed a goal in four playoff matches, will
need its defense to step up once again when it faces seventh-seeded
Princeton on Friday in Cary, N.C. The Tigers (19-2), champions of
the Ivy League, are coached by Julie Shackford, Ellis’ best
friend and collegiate teammate at William & Mary.
Fourth-seeded Notre Dame and 16th-seeded Santa Clara will meet
in the other semifinal.
The Bruins, who have never won a national championship, lost 3-0
to North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals last season and 2-1 to the
Tar Heels in the title game in 2000. Though this was supposed to be
a rebuilding year for UCLA, which lost six starters from last
year’s team, none of the Bruins are apologizing for making it
this far.
“At the beginning of the season a lot of the upperclassmen
didn’t think we would make it to the Final Four,”
Ursini said.
Thanks to Ursini’s timely goal, they were wrong.