UCLA
Duke (College Cup Semifinals)
Women's Soccer Faces Duke in NCAA Semifinal
November 30, 2017 | Women's Soccer
2017 NCAA College Cup
No. 2 Seed UCLA (19-2-2) vs. No. 1 Seed Duke (23-2-0)
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Dec. 1
Location: Orlando, Fla.
Venue: Orlando City Stadium (25,500)
Kickoff Time: 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT
TV: ESPNU
TV Talent: Jenn Hildreth, Julie Foudy
Live Stats: ncaa.com
NO. 2 SEED UCLA FACES NO. 1 SEED DUKE IN NCAA SEMIFINALS
No. 2-seed and No. 4-ranked UCLA (19-2-2) will face No. 1-seed and No. 3-ranked Duke (23-2-0) in the second semifinal at the College Cup on Friday, Dec. 1 at 7:30pm ET/4:30pm PT. The match will take place at Orlando City Stadium, home of Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer, and the Orlando Pride of the NWSL and will follow the first semifinal between No. 1 seeds Stanford and South Carolina at 5pm ET/2pm PT. The winner of each semifinal will meet in the final on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 12pm ET/9am PT.
UCLA'S NCAA HISTORY
The Bruins are making their 21st overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 10th College Cup appearance. UCLA has a 61-17-4 all-time NCAA Tournament record and a 3-5-1 record in semifinal action. The Bruins advanced to the Round of 16 in their last tournament appearance in 2016, falling in penalty kicks in icy conditions at West Virginia. UCLA is making its first College Cup appearance since winning its first NCAA Championship in 2013.
UCLA's seeding history and results in its 20 previous NCAA Tournament appearances coming into this year are below:
1995 - First Round (L to Washington, 2-1)
1997 - Quarterfinals (L at Notre Dame, 8-0)
1998 - Second Round (L to BYU, 2-0)
1999 - Rd. of 16 (L at Santa Clara, 7-0)
2000 - #6 seed, Final (L to North Carolina, 2-1)
2001 - #3 seed, Quarterfinals (L to Florida, 1-0 2OT)
2002 - #7 seed, Rd. of 16 (T Texas A&M 0-0, lost 3-1 in PKs)
2003 - #4 seed, Semifinals (L to North Carolina, 3-0)
2004 - #14 seed, Final (L to Notre Dame, 1-1 PKs)
2005 - #1 seed Final (L to Portland, 4-0)
2006 - #2 seed, Semifinals (L to North Carolina, 2-0)
2007 - #1 seed, Semifinals (L to USC, 2-1)
2008 - #1 seed, Semifinals (L to North Carolina, 1-0)
2009 - #1 seed, Semifinals (L to Stanford, 2-1)
2010 - Rd. of 16 (L at Stanford, 3-0)
2011 - #2 seed, Second Round (T San Diego, 1-1, lost 3-4 in PKs)
2012 - #3 seed, Quarterfinals (L at Stanford, 2-1)
2013 - #2 seed, Champions (W vs. Florida State, 1-0, ot)
2014 - #1 seed, Quarterfinals (L vs. Virginia, 2-1)
2016 - #4 seed, Rd. of 16 (T West Virginia 1-1, lost 2-4 in PKs)
UCLA's College Cup Results:
2000 - #6 seed (San Jose, Calif.): Dec. 1 - W 1-0 vs. Portland; Dec. 3 - L 1-2 vs. North Carolina
2003 - #4 seed (Cary, N.C.): Dec. 5 - L 0-3 vs. North Carolina
2004 - #14 seed (Cary, N.C.): Dec. 3 - W 2-0 vs. Princeton; Dec. 5 - L 1-1 (PKs) vs. Notre Dame
2005 - #1 seed (College Station, Texas): Dec. 2 - W 4-0 vs. Florida State; Dec. 4 - L 0-4 vs. Portland
2006 - #2 seed (Cary, N.C.): Dec. 1 - L 0-1 vs. North Carolina
2007 - #1 seed (College Station, Texas): Dec. 7 - L 1-2 vs. USC
2008 - #1 seed (Cary, N.C.): Dec. 5 - L 0-1 vs. North Carolina
2009 - #1 seed (College Station, Texas): Dec. 4 - L 1-2 vs. Stanford
2013 - #2 seed (Cary, N.C.): Dec. 6, T 1-1 (4-2 PKs) vs. Virginia; Dec. 8, W 1-0 (OT) vs. Florida State
UCLA AGAINST THE NCAA FIELD
UCLA posted a 6-2-2 regular season record against members of the 64-team NCAA Tournament field. The Bruins have wins over San Diego State (5-1), Santa Clara (4-2), Virginia (2-1), Colorado (2-0), California (1-0) and USC (3-2, OT). UCLA's only non-victories this year have come against NCAA Tournament teams - ties against Pepperdine (1-1) and Arizona (2-2) and losses to Washington State (1-0) and Stanford (1-0).
HOMECOMING FOR CROMWELL
UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell returns to her old stomping grounds with the Bruins' trip to Orlando. Cromwell coached at host school UCF for 14 years (1999-2012), guiding the Knights to a 203-83-26 record, 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, four Atlantic Sun Tournament championships, four Conference USA regular-season titles and the 2012 C-USA tournament title. Cromwell's Knights made a NCAA Elite Eight run in 2011 that included a defeat of North Carolina in the third round. Associate head coach Joshua S. Walters, Sr. also coached at UCF in 2012. The Bruins have one player with Florida ties, as junior forward Julia Hernandez played at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Fla. in 2015, earning All-America honors and ranking fifth in the nation in both goals (26) and points (65).
SUPER SENIORS RETURN TO COLLEGE CUP
Fifth-year seniors Zoey Goralski and Claire Winter are headed back to the College Cup. The duo were freshmen in 2013 when UCLA won its NCAA title in Cary, N.C. but neither played in the tournament. Goralski redshirted that season with an injury, and Winter played in four games that year and redshirted the following year. Both Goralski and Winter serve as team co-captains, along with Jessie Fleming. Goralski has played in every game, earning 21 starts, and Winter has played in 19, with 11 starts.
YOUTH IS SERVED
UCLA brings to the College Cup a young squad with just eight upperclassmen (two juniors and six seniors). UCLA's starting lineup in the last three NCAA Tournament games have consisted of four freshmen (Olivia Athens, Ashley Sanchez, Viviana Villacorta and Karina Rodriguez), four sophomores (Kaiya McCullough, Anika Rodriguez, Teagan Micah and Jessie Fleming), one junior (Hailie Mace) and two seniors (Zoey Goralski and MacKenzie Cerda).
CONFERENCE OF CHAMPIONS
UCLA and Stanford both making the College Cup mark the fourth time that two Pac-12 teams have advanced to the Final Four. Two Pac-12 teams made it in 2007 (UCLA and champion USC), 2008 and 2009 (UCLA and Stanford). The Pac-12 became the first conference to have three different teams win the NCAA women's soccer title (USC in 2007 and 2016, Stanford in 2011 and UCLA in 2013).
CHAMPIONS MADE HERE
UCLA has won a 113 NCAA championships across all sports, tied for the most in Division I Athletics with Stanford. The Bruins were the first to claim 100 NCAA titles when women's water polo won its third-straight crown in 2007. Women's soccer claimed its first title in 2013, marking the 110th NCAA championship for UCLA. UCLA is playing for two NCAA Championships this weekend, as the Bruins are the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Men's Water Polo Tournament, playing in the semifinals on Saturday.
THE ROAD TO ORLANDO - QUARTERFINALS
UCLA punched its ticket to the College Cup after a 3-1 quarterfinal win over Princeton. The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of goals in under a minute and a half. Hailie Mace scored the first at 15:03 on a header, and freshman Olivia Athens scored her first collegiate goal at 17:27 after Anika Rodriguez drew out the goalkeeper and passed back to Athens for the tap-in into the empty net. Princeton got to within one on a counterattack goal in the 55th minute, but the Bruins regained the two-goal advantage six minutes later on Mace's second goal of the game.
THE ROAD TO ORLANDO - 2ND/3RD ROUNDS
UCLA earned a pair of dramatic victories in the second and third rounds to advance to its fourth NCAA Tournament quarterfinal in six seasons. The Bruins earned a 1-0 overtime victory over Northwestern on Nov. 17 before defeating No. 11 Virginia 2-1 on Nov. 19. Anika Rodriguez scored the golden goal against Northwestern when she received a pass from Ashley Sanchez in the penalty area in the third minute of OT for the lone goal. UCLA held a 28-2 advantage in shots against the Wildcats. The Round of 16 game started quickly as a UCLA own goal and a Jessie Fleming penalty kick made it 1-1 in the sixth minute. After a back-and-forth game, Sanchez and Rodriguez connected again, with Sanchez forcing a turnover and slotting a ball in the box for Rodriguez's second game-winner of the weekend.
THE ROAD TO ORLANDO - 1ST ROUND
UCLA defeated San Diego State, 3-1, on Nov. 10 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Senior defender MacKenzie Cerda played a role in all three Bruin goals, scoring one, assisting on the game-winner and drawing the foul that led to Anika Rodriguez's free kick goal in the first half. The Bruins got on the board first with the Rodriguez free kick at 15:28. Cerda was fouled just outside the box, and Rodriguez went top shelf to the upper right corner. UCLA pulled ahead 2-0 at 53:41 on a header by Julia Hernandez, her third goal of the season against San Diego State. SDSU got back into the contest in the 63rd minute when Mia Root went far post from distance after a takeaway, but Cerda sealed the win at 84:42 with a beauty of a shot perfectly placed to the upper far post, her fourth goal of the year.
FLEMING, MACE SELECTED AS MAC HERMANN TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS
Bruins Jessie Fleming and Hailie Mace have been selected as semifinalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is awarded annually to the nation's top player. Fleming and Mace are two of eight semifinalists participating in the College Cup. Both Bruins earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors this year. Fleming has scored five goals, including three game-winning goals, with eight assists, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with 18 points. Mace leads the team with a career-high 15 goals and 33 points. She has four multiple-goal games this year, including a hat trick against Santa Clara.
SANCHEZ SETS FRESHMAN ASSIST RECORD
Freshman forward Ashley Sanchez has set a new UCLA freshman record with 12 assists, a total that ranks fourth all-time at UCLA. Sanchez is just the fourth Bruin to record a dozen assists in a season, joining Sarah Killion (12 in 2013 and 2014), Sam Mewis (13 in 2014) and Iris Mora (14 in 2003 and 15 in 2005). Four of Sanchez's 12 assists have come in NCAA Tournament play, putting her in a tie for third place on UCLA's NCAA Tournament single-season assist list. She is already tied for eighth on UCLA's NCAA Tournament career assist list. Overall, Sanchez is tied for second on the team in scoring with 24 points and is tied for third with six goals. She scored late game-winning goals against Colorado, Cal and USC.
MACE SETS THE PACE
Junior forward Hailie Mace continues to pace UCLA in the scoring column, ranking second in the Pac-12 and ninth in the NCAA in goals (15), and leading the Bruins in points (33), both career-high totals for the former defender. Mace has four multi-goal games this season, including a first-half hat trick on Aug. 24, the 26th hat trick in UCLA women's soccer history, in the 4-2 win over Santa Clara. She also added a brace against Oregon State, scoring two goals in just over six minutes, against Arizona State and against Princeton. Mace has started in 60 consecutive games, earning her first career start on Sept. 6, 2015 against Texas and has started every game since. She has played in every game for the Bruins over the last three seasons.
RODRIGUEZ ROLLING
Sophomore Anika Rodriguez has saved her best play for the latter part of the season, scoring 21 of her 24 points during Pac-12 and postseason play. Her 14 points in conference games rank third in the Pac-12, and her six assists in conference games are tied for the best in the Pac-12. She has registered a goal or assist in each NCAA Tournament match this season, including two late game-winning goals in the second and third rounds. Rodriguez leads the team in NCAA Tournament scoring with seven points on three goals and an assist. Overall, she is tied for second on the team in points with 24 and second in goals and assists with eight each.
OH CANADA
Sophomore midfielder Jessie Fleming will face off against her Canadian National Team teammate Rebecca Quinn from Duke in the semifinals. The duo were teammates at the 2016 Olympics, where Canada won the bronze medal, as well as during the recent Canada-U.S. series earlier in the month. Fleming wore the captain's armband for the end of the Nov. 12 game, and during the Nov. 9 draw, she was called out by ESPN as the Player of the Game. Fleming has played with the Full National Team since she was 15 years old and already has an Olympic bronze medal and a FIFA Women's World Cup appearance under her belt.
Both players are MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalists and are ranked on Top Drawer Soccer's midseason Top 10. Fleming is No. 1, and Quinn is No. 9. Fleming has scored five goals with eight assists this season, while Quinn has three goals and four assists.
MICAH CLIMBING CHARTS
Sophomore goalkeeper Teagan Micah is quickly climbing the UCLA record books for goalkeeping. Last year, she became the first true freshman goalkeeper since Val Henderson in 2002 to earn the start on opening day. Micah already ranks tied for fifth in career shutouts with 17 and sixth in career saves with 144.
SETTING CAREER HIGHS
A number of Bruins have already set career-highs this season. Junior Hailie Mace did not score a goal coming into this season and has 15 and has also tied her career-high with three assists. Sophomore Julia Hernandez netted just one goal in her first season in Westwood in 2016 but now has six. Jessie Fleming's eight assists this season are a career-high. Anika Rodriguez has set new career-highs with eight goals, eight assists and 24 points. Gabrielle Matulich has set a career-best in points with eight, surpassing her three points from last year, while MacKenzie Cerda has set a career-high with 11 points.
TRIO OF BRUINS NAMED TO TEAM OF THE WEEK
Three Bruins were selected to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week following the Bruins' NCAA Quarterfinal win over Princeton. Defender MacKenzie Cerda and forward Hailie Mace were selected for the second time this season, and midfielder Olivia Athens received her first career selection after scoring the game-winning goal, her first goal of her collegiate career.
SCOUTING THE BLUE DEVILS
Duke advanced to its second NCAA College Cup in three years and the fourth in program history after earning a decisive 4-0 win over Baylor at home in the quarterfinals. So far in the NCAA Tournament, Duke has outscored its opponents 14-0 in the first four rounds. The Blue Devils won the ACC regular season crown with a perfect 10-0 mark but fell to rival North Carolina in the ACC Tournament championship game, 1-0. Duke boasts the sixth-best goals-against average (0.397) and the eighth-best scoring offense (2.40) in the country this season. Goalkeeper EJ Proctor is sixth in the country in shutouts (13) and seventh in GAA (0.366). Offensively, the Blue Devils are led by Imani Dorsey, who leads the team and is ranked seventh in the NCAA in points (38). She and teammate Kayla McCoy are tied for 11th in the country with 14 goals.
UCLA VS. THE OTHER SIDE OF BRACKET
UCLA is 11-14-2 all-time against Stanford and has never played South Carolina. The Bruins lost to Stanford at home earlier this season, 1-0, with the Cardinal scoring the game-winning goal a minute after Hailie Mace's shot hit the underside of the crossbar and appeared to cross the goal line but was not ruled a goal.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
UCLA moved up another spot to No. 4 in the final regular season ranking by the United Soccer Coaches. The Bruins spent six weeks at No. 1 from late August to October. UCLA is ranked No. 2 by Top Drawer Soccer and No. 4 by Soccer America.
FOUR RECEIVE ALL-REGION HONORS
UCLA placed four players on the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region team. First-team selections were midfielder Jessie Fleming and forwards Hailie Mace and Ashley Sanchez. Defender Kaiya McCullough earned second-team honors.
SIX BRUINS EARN PAC-12 POSTSEASON HONORS
A total of six Bruins received Pac-12 women's soccer postseason awards, led by first-team All-Pac-12 honorees Jessie Fleming, Hailie Mace and Ashley Sanchez. Also receiving All-Pac-12 honors were Kaiya McCullough (second team) and MacKenzie Cerda (third team). Sanchez and Delanie Sheehan were selected to the All-Freshman team.
BRUINS RECEIVE ACADEMIC HONORS
Three Bruins earned CoSIDA Academic All-District honors this season as junior forward Julia Hernandez was named to the first team and is eligible for Academic All-America consideration, while sophomore forward Sunny Dunphy and sophomore defender Kaiya McCullough were selected to the all-district second team.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's freshman class has made a big impact, with seven freshmen earning starting positions in at least one game so far this season. Karina Rodriguez and Ashley Sanchez have each started in 21 games. Viviana Villacorta has 13 starts, Delanie Sheehan 10, Olivia Athens 10, and Marley Canales and Kennedy Faulknor one each. Sanchez ranks second on the team in scoring with 24 points and goals scored with six and is first in assists with 12. Sheehan ranks sixth on the team in points with 11 (4g, 2a), and Athens has six points (1g, 4a), while Villacorta has four assists. Rodriguez is third among second players with 1841 minutes played. Additionally, Canales has played in 11 games, and Faulknor made her UCLA debut in a starting role at Weber State and has played in five games.
NATIONAL TEAMS
UCLA has a plethora of national team players on its 2017 squad, including four who have earned call-ups to the full national team - Fleming (Canada), Teagan Micah (Australia) and freshmen Ashley Sanchez (U.S.) and Kennedy Faulknor (Canada). Three played with the U.S. U-23 National Team in July - Sanchez, Zoey Goralski and Hailie Mace. Karina Rodriguez and Viviana Villacorta have played with the Under-20s this year, and Kaiya McCullough and Delanie Sheehan have played with the Under-19s in 2017. Eleven more Bruins have played with various U.S. Youth National Teams in their career - Olivia Athens (U-18), Lauren Brzykcy (U-17), Marley Canales (2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup), Chloe Castaneda (U-17), MacKenzie Cerda (U-18), Sunny Dunphy (U-19), Chloe Hemingway (U-18), Gabrielle Matulich (U-20), Jacey Pederson (U-19), Anika Rodriguez (U-17), and Claire Winter (U-15). In addition, Siri Ervik played with the Norwegian U-19 National Team, and Julia Hernandez played with the Spanish U-17 National Team.
