Entering last season’s College Cup, Danesha Adams was
excited.
A freshman on college soccer’s grandest stage, there were
plenty of emotions running through her mind, and she simply
couldn’t help feeling a bit overwhelmed.
And once again, with the No. 4 UCLA women’s soccer team
(21-1-2) set to make its third consecutive College Cup appearance
against No. 6 Florida State (20-3-1) in today’s semifinals in
College Station, Texas, the excitement is there.
But it’s different this time.
“It’s not that we’re excited to be here, but
we’re excited that our team is playing as well as we
are,” Adams said. “We’re excited to know that we
have a big game coming up and everyone is prepared for
it.”
To say that the Bruins are playing well could be regarded as a
bit of an understatement. In their four NCAA Tournament games this
year, they’ve outscored their opponents 21-0. The team is
unbeaten in their last 19 games, and they’re playing with an
incredible air of confidence right now.
“Yeah, we’re playing well,” coach Jill Ellis
said.
“If you’re confident and you’re executing,
you’re going to get results. Right now we’re confident
and we’re executing, and we’re getting
results.”
“That’s what I’m looking for this
weekend.”
Ellis will also be looking for the school’s first-ever
national championship in women’s soccer, and you can’t
blame the Bruins for feeling like there’s some unfinished
business to be taken care of.
UCLA lost to North Carolina in the semifinals in 2003, and
became the first team to lose a championship in penalty kicks when
they lost to Notre Dame in last season’s title match.
“Last year I might have been happy to be there as well as
just really nervous, really not knowing what to expect,” said
Adams, who set an NCAA Tournament record with four goals in the
team’s quarterfinal victory over Virginia.
“Now I know what to expect. I know I don’t want to
happen what happened last year.”
“I just feel like all the upperclassmen know that, and
they’re trying to get the freshmen to realize that.
It’s not a good feeling what happened to us last
year.”
It couldn’t have been. UCLA blew a 1-0 lead late in
regulation and missed a penalty kick in overtime that likely would
have given the team its first national title. Instead, the Bruins
are still searching.
“Nobody dwells on it or anything, but I definitely heard
how hard it was,” said freshman forward Kara Lang, who will
get her first real taste of the College Cup today. “Coming so
close so many times, that’s always going to be in the back of
your mind.
“Knowing that players like Jill (Oakes) have come so close
so many times, you don’t want anything other than the win for
them. We’re definitely going to go in thinking about
that.”
For her part, Ellis only wants the team thinking about itself.
Ellis has repeated time and time again this season that the Bruins
need only concern themselves with the things that are within their
control.
That’s been the team’s mantra all season, and it
won’t change now.
“The focus has to be back on ourselves, and that’s
what it has been for the season,” Ellis said.
“This is about how we play, our performance, and not our
opponents. If we play the way we play, we’ll be in good
shape.”
That’s why Ellis isn’t concerning herself too much
with the rest of the College Cup field, which is comprised of No. 1
Portland and No. 2 Penn State, in addition to Florida State. The
Seminoles, whose meeting with UCLA will be the first-ever between
the schools, advanced to the College Cup with a surprising victory
in penalty kicks over perennial powerhouse North Carolina.
And despite the fact that this is the College Cup and the nation
will be watching, Ellis wants her players to continue to focus on
the things that got them here.
“It’s a field, it’s 11 players on the other
side of the ball, and it’s not that different. It’s all
the trappings that somewhat make it different, but if you’re
centered and if you’re focused, it shouldn’t be that
different.”
It is, however, reason to get excited.