This post was updated Nov. 25 at 4:28 p.m.
The Bruins will not be returning to the College Cup this year.
No. 2-seeded UCLA women’s soccer (17-3-2) fell in penalty kicks to No. 1-seeded North Carolina (20-3-2) after tying 2-2 in regulation in the quarterfinal match of the NCAA tournament Saturday.
“My main takeaway right now is how resilient this team is after dealing with injuries and (junior midfielder Jessie Fleming) and (senior forward Hailie Mace) being gone for five weeks of the season,” said coach Amanda Cromwell. “This team always stepped up and figured out ways to get it done and it’s a shame this final game had to be played in the Elite Eight. It was a Final Four type game.”
The Tar Heels had control of the match early on.
UNC struck first in the match and was able to hold UCLA for the entirety of the first period before adding to its lead early in the second half. Though both teams recorded seven shots in the first half, the Tar Heels recorded three saves while the Bruins recorded just one.
“At halftime, we talked about how we needed to change things up in the second half,” Cromwell said. “We made the personnel changes and I knew there was no way we were going to be held scoreless. We had too much attacking power.”
Mace scored two goals in less than one minute to equalize. Sophomore forward Ashley Sanchez assisted Mace for the first goal, allowing her to break the UCLA record for consecutive games with a point scored, with 13.
“We’ve been down before,” said junior goalkeeper Teagan Micah. “We always have each others’ backs, so you should never count us out. We had 45 minutes to make a statement and redeem ourselves and, regardless of the ending, I think we did.”
The Bruin defense was noticeably stronger in the final minutes of the second half and it logged a number of saves. Both teams were unable to score a winner during regulation and the match was forced to overtime.
“I think that we made some adjustments that were huge and I just knew that we had more in us and I think that really showed,” said sophomore midfielder Marley Canales. “They’re really strong, athletic, smart girls, and I think that we could have come out a little bit stronger. They came out strong and fast and made it chaotic and hectic for us early.”
The majority of the third period was played in the space around the Bruins’ goal with the Tar Heels failing to finish several close chances. UNC had three corner kicks in the period, while UCLA had none.
One minute into the second period of overtime, the Tar Heels received a free kick, which was taken by midfielder Dorian Bailey, and flew wide of the goalpost. A close shot by Mace was blocked by UNC goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak and allowed for UCLA’s first corner kick of the game.
With six minutes remaining in the game, a close shot by forward Madison Schultz flew over Micah’s head but bounced off the top of the Bruin goal post.
“I think we played great in overtime,” Canales said. “We had some huge tackles from our back line. They worked as hard as they could because they knew our season was on the line. We had players step up huge.”
Though the Tar Heels recorded a total of seven shots in the overtime periods and the Bruins had one, neither team could find the back of the net in overtime, forcing a round of penalty kicks to decide which team would advance to the College Cup.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy replaced Micah in the goal for penalty kicks. UNC scored each of its first two spot kicks, as did UCLA’s Mace and junior defender Sunny Dunphy. Tar Heel midfielder Rachel Jones was successful in her penalty kick, but senior forward Julia Hernandez was unable to match Jones after a save by Leshnak. UNC made its fourth penalty shot in a row, and it was up to Fleming to keep UCLA’s season alive.
Fleming’s shot to the left was saved and UNC joined Stanford, Florida State and Georgetown in the College Cup.
“Immediately after the game, (UNC coach Anson Dorrance) said, ‘Amanda, you guys are the best team in the country – we just found a way to win tonight. You’re playing the best soccer of anybody right now,’” Cromwell said. “He was really complimentary and that’s why this is so tough. I think we are peaking at the right time and losing (in penalty kicks) is a cruel way to go.”