First loss ends season for UCLA women’s soccer team
December 6, 2008 by jane
Filed under College Athletics, College Soccer, News Bytes, Soccer
December 5, 2008 – It’s no secret we were rooting for UCLA to win the national championship. So it’s no suprise we were incredibly bummed when the Bruins saw their undefeated season come to an end during the semifinals of the NCAA College Cup. They gave up only their sixth goal of the year in the loss, but it was enough.
UCLA fell to North Carolina 1-0 before 8,926 fans at the WakeMed Soccer Park. The game’s only goal was scored in the 41st minute on a penalty kick by North Carolina’s Yael Averbuch.
The Bruins suffered some bad luck early on, as senior midfielder McCall Zerboni suffered an ankle injury in just the 18th minute and did not return the rest of the match. Zerboni , who was the Bruins’ emotional leader this year, led the team in scoring during the NCAA Tournament with nine points.
North Carolina’s goal came with less than five minutes left in the first half when the referee called a penalty kick after Tar Heel Brittani Bartok was brought down in the box on a tackle by Bruin defender Erin Hardy.
“I didn’t see a replay — they didn’t replay it on the big screen,” Hardy said afterward. “I didn’t think I got contact with her feet. I think it’s a hard call to make in the Final Four.”
Despite the loss, the Bruins still set a new school record for fewest losses in a season, suffering just one defeat in 25 matches. And UCLA fell just one win shy of breaking the school record for victories in a season, ending the season with 22 (the Bruins also had 22 wins in 2005).
UCLA (22-1-2) became the second team from the Pacific 10 Conference to lose Friday as Stanford (22-2-1) lost the first semifinal to Notre Dame (26-0-0) by the same 1-0 score. The Fighting Irish and North Carolina (24-1-2) will play for the championship Sunday.
It really felt like this would be UCLA’s year but it wasn’t to be…..great job and good luck to all the seniors who are moving on.
