COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS – The Bruins came into College Station, Texas, prepared for a crisp and chilly night, but as it turned out, nothing was as piercing as a late goal by Stanford’s junior forward Christen Press.
Just more than three minutes into overtime, Press sent a shot into the lower left past UCLA’s redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Chante’ Sandiford to defeat the Bruins 2-1 at Texas A&M’s Aggie Soccer Stadium and launch her team into the championship round of the College Cup.
“I think (the players) gave it their very best,” coach Jillian Ellis said. “As a coach, sometimes it’s hard to see a team always perform to their highest expectations, … but I don’t have any regrets from this team, the way they played the game.”
For most of the first half, both teams were locked into a standstill, the Bruins and the Cardinal with recording seven shots apiece.
But in the 64th minute, Stanford struck first on a shot by senior forward Kelley O’Hara from 20 yards out that streaked in just beneath the crossbar.
Facing a 1-0 deficit, UCLA answered with a goal of its own at the 75:07 mark. After having received a pass from junior midfielder Kylie Wright, senior forward Lauren Cheney posted up against her defender, spun right and bent one into the upper left to equalize and bring her team back into contention.
“(Stanford’s) defenders play hard. They didn’t want me to turn,” Cheney said. “But I spun the girl, took a look and saw that I had a shot.”
For the rest of regulation, each team came close to striking again. In the 86th minute, sophomore forward Sydney Leroux sprinted down the middle and slid under a loose ball to get the shot off from just inside the box, but it sailed just above the crossbar and out of play.
The match carried on into overtime, where Press scored her golden goal and advanced Stanford to its first ever championship match.
“Give UCLA credit, they were a fantastic team,” Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “It was fitting that two of the best strikers in the country scored goals for us to defeat them.”
For the Bruins, the loss brought to an end the careers of the five seniors on the team, including Cheney.
“It’s just been amazing,” Cheney said. “”Every team goes through ups and downs, but I’ve never met a bunch of girls as resilient as us.”