First loss ends season for UCLA women’s soccer team

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.

UCLA Recap

College Cup: Irish Eyes are Smilin’

December 5, 2008 – In Friday’s first D-I semifinal in Cary, N.C., Courtney Barg scored in the 14th minute to put Notre Dame ahead early. The Irish defense took care of the rest, as top-seeded Notre Dame stayed undefeated and earned a ticket to Sunday’s final with a 1-0 win over Stanford.

Top women’s seeds meet in ‘fierce final four’

December 4, 2008 – It all comes down to this weekend. It’s the fiercest foursome to meet at the Women’s College Cup in recent memory. Who will come out #1?

All four top seeds reached the national semifinals for the first time since 1997 and just the fifth time overall. The teams have the most combined wins (92) and tied for the fewest combined losses (two) of any final foursome in the history of the tournament.

The Fighting Irish, who are riding a school-record 25-game winning streak, enter the weekend as the top-ranked team in the country. They are making their fourth appearance in the Women’s College Cup in the last five years, including their third in a row.

UCLA has posted a school-record 19 shutouts and went through the regular season undefeated for the first time in school history. They completely dominated Duke in the quarterfinal match. The Bruins are making their sixth consecutive appearance in the College Cup, the longest active streak in the country but unbelievably they haven’t won a national championship.

Stanford has a great team this year but the Cardinal players won’t have any College Cup experience to draw upon when they take on Notre Dame. The team is playing in the NCAA tournament for the 11th consecutive season, but is making its first College Cup appearance since 1993.

Of course UNC can never be counted out. Coach Anson Dorrance has led North Carolina to the NCAA Women’s College Cup 24 times in the 27-year history of the event and guided the Tar Heels to 18 NCAA championships, most recently here in 2006. Plus, the Tar Heels have a homefield advantage, traveling just 35 miles from Chapel Hill, N.C., to the same field where they won the ACC tournament title last month.

Stanford (22-1-1) and Notre Dame (25-0-0) kick off the action at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Dec, 5 followed by North Carolina (23-1-2) and UCLA (22-0-2) at 7:00. Both games will be broadcast live on ESPN2/ESPNU

The championship game will take place Sunday, Dec . 7th. at 2:00 and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. These should all be great games – be sure to catch the action!