UCLA
15-5-2, 7-3-1
West Virginia (Third Round)
21-1-2, 8-0
UCLA Eliminated in NCAA Tournament after PKs
November 20, 2016 | Women's Soccer
Morgantown, W.Va. โ After a late comeback to send the game into overtime, No. 4 seed UCLA was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw with No. 1 seed West Virginia. The Mountaineers advance to the quarterfinals, where they will host No. 3 seed Duke. The Bruins end their season with a 15-5-2 record.
West Virginia opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Michaela Adam's shot was tipped by UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah. Sh'Nia Gordon collected the rebound and put it in past Micah into the right corner.
The Bruins had trouble building an attack in the cold and snowy conditions, but with the minutes winding down in regulation, they broke through with an 89th minute goal by Jessie Fleming. Jacey Pederson served the ball into the box, and both Courtney Proctor and Fleming jumped up for it, with Fleming rising above and heading it past the West Virginia goalkeeper for the equalizer at 88:08. The goal was her team-leading 11th of the season.
Neither team was able to score in the two overtime periods, sending the game into penalty kicks. West Virginia and UCLA traded penalty kicks in the first round, with Lauren Kaskie successfully hitting her shot. In round two, UCLA goalkeeper Siri Ervik, in her first appearance of the season, saved a shot by Michaela Abam, but Mountaineer goalkeeper Michelle Newhouse stopped UCLA's next two shots to give West Virginia the advantage. After Sunny Dunphy's made shot in round four, Canadian Olympian Kadeisha Buchanan stepped up and clinched the shootout win for West Virginia.
"Obviously getting the late goal was huge," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "That's been a huge sign for our team, their resilience. I thought we would have the momentum (after the tying goal), but they [West Virginia] came out in the first overtime and were all over us. We were lucky to get out of that one, and then we changed formations to push and try to set the momentum how we wanted to go and it got better for us in the second overtime. In the end, PKs are a horrible way to lose, but it is what it is and congrats to West Virginia and thanks for hosting us."
Team Stats
Sh'Nia Gordon (7)
Assisted By: Michaela Abam
Cross in, tipped by GK, puts in at right
22:32
Fleming, Jessie (11)
Assisted By: Pederson, Jacey
Scrum inside box, headed over GK hand
88:08
