UCLA
19-2-2
Princeton (Quarterfinals)
16-3-1
UCLA Soccer Advances to NCAA College Cup
November 25, 2017 | Women's Soccer
LOS ANGELES - UCLA advanced to its 10th College Cup after a 3-1 victory over Princeton at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus. Junior forward Hailie Mace scored two goals for the Bruins, and freshman midfielder Olivia Athens scored her first collegiate goal.
The second-seeded Bruins (19-2-2) will join No. 1 seeds Duke, Stanford and South Carolina in Orlando for the College Cup on Dec. 1 and 3. This will be UCLA's first appearance in the College Cup since winning its first-ever national title in 2013.
"It feels awesome to be back in the College Cup," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "We work so hard and have been through a lot. I'm just really proud of our team effort, the total commitment, and the fact that it's in Orlando, where I coached for 14 years at Central Florida, is really special."
UCLA jumped out to a 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of goals in under a minute and a half. Mace scored the first at 15:03 on a header, assisted by MacKenzie Cerda and Ashley Sanchez. Sanchez started the play with a nice through ball to Cerda, who served a cross to Mace in the box. Mace flicked the ball past Princeton goalkeeper Natalie Grossi for her team-leading 14th goal of the season.
More great passing led to UCLA's second goal at 17:27. Zoey Goralski used some fancy footwork to keep a long pass inbounds and then sent a through ball into the box for Anika Rodriguez, who got ahead of the last defender with just the goalkeeper to beat on the right side. Rodriguez, however, made the unselfish pass back to Athens, who tapped it into the empty net for her first goal.
The Bruins dominated possession in the half, totaling 13 shots (nine on goal) to Princeton's one.
The Tigers came out swinging in the second half, cutting UCLA's lead in half with a counterattack goal in the 55th minute. Abby Givens scored her 12th goal of the year, assisted by Courtney O'Brien.
But the Bruins regained their two-goal lead six minutes later when Delanie Sheehan sprung Mace free with a long ball. Mace raced past the Princeton defender and drew the goalkeeper way out of her box. Mace got past Grossi and lobbed a shot from over 20 yards out into the empty net.
The Bruins are headed to Orlando!
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) November 26, 2017
UCLA advances to its 10th College Cup with a 3-1 win over Princeton!#GoBruins #CollegeCup #OrlandoBound pic.twitter.com/nDegspRoYq
UCLA finished the game with 24 shots to Princeton's 10, including holding a 14-4 advantage in shots on goal. Princeton finishes the year with a 16-3-1 record.
UCLA will face Duke in the second semifinal on Dec. 1 at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT at Orlando City Stadium, while Stanford will face South Carolina in the first semifinal at 5pm ET/2pm PT.
We're going to the dance! #OrlandoBound pic.twitter.com/PVv2NV8ymo
โ UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) November 26, 2017
Team Stats
Mace, Hailie (14)
Assisted By: Cerda, MacKenzie , Sanchez, Ashley
header off service in box
15:03
Athens, Olivia (1)
Assisted By: Rodriguez, Anika , Goralski, Zoey
endline pass to front of goal, tapped in
17:27
Givens, Abby (12)
Assisted By: O'Brien, Courtney
counter attack goal
54:33
Mace, Hailie (15)
Assisted By: Sheehan, Delanie , Villacorta, Viviana
beats goalie who comes way out, shot in
60:38
