UCLA
19-2-3
Duke (College Cup Semifinals)
23-2-1
UCLA Advances to NCAA Championship Game in PKs
December 01, 2017 | Women's Soccer
ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCLA women's soccer team advanced to the College Cup finals on Friday when Marley Canales converted the game-winning penalty kick to move past Duke in the semifinal of the NCAA Tournament from Orlando City Stadium. The Bruins defeated the Blue Devils 4-3 in penalty kicks after playing to a scoreless draw forcing the match to penalty kicks to decide the winner.
The Championship match on Sunday will be an All-Pac-12 affair, as the Bruins will have a rematch with Stanford, who won the first semifinal, 2-0, over South Carolina.
The Bruins (19-2-3) received two penalty kick goals in the shootout from players who had not played the entire game. Julia Hernandez gave UCLA a 2-1 advantage in the shootout after Zoey Goralski made the Bruins' first attempt and Duke hit the crossbar on its second. After the Bruins' third attempt was saved, Sunny Dunphy scored a pressure-filled goal to even the score at 3-3. Then it was UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah's turn to play the hero, making a save on a shot by Kat McDonald. Micah's save put Canales in the position to win it, and the freshman easily scored to keep the Bruins in the hunt for UCLA's 114th NCAA Championship.
"Hats off to our girls during the PKs," said UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell. "Teagan, who's a phenomenal keeper, had that great save. Marley had not played the whole game, steps up as the fifth PK kicker. She had been in the top-5 players to take those shots. She just has a lot of confidence, and that is really hard to do coming in cold off the bench, putting the team on your shoulders. A lot of players would shy away from those moments, but Marley grasped that."
Hear UCLA's Marley Canales describe scoring the game-winning penalty kick for the Bruins. #WCollegeCup pic.twitter.com/wVDiHN6xeM
โ NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 2, 2017
UCLA dominated possession in the first half but had nothing to show for it. The Bruins totaled six shots in the half and created havoc in the box, but Duke managed to snuff out opportunities. Hailie Mace had UCLA's best look in the 34th minute, taking a quick long distance shot after receiving a pass from Jessie Fleming. Her shot missed just high, however. Fleming also had a nice opportunity in the 21st minute, but her header in the box was saved.
Duke's four second-half shots mostly came on the counterattack. Imani Dorsey had the Blue Devils' best opportunity but missed wide in the 18th minute. Kaiya McCullough blocked a Dorsey shot in the 31st minute, and Micah made a save on Dorsey in the 35th.
The roles reversed a bit more in the second half, which Duke gaining more possession than it had in the first. Micah made saves in the 59th and 67th minutes, and the Blue Devils also nearly scored in the 79th minute on a breakaway, but McCullough made a tremendous defensive play to stop Duke. The Bruins had several chances late in the half, but were unable to capitalize.
Micah, McCullough, Zoey Goralski, Karina Rodriguez and MacKenzie Cerda each made big defensive plays to preserve the shutout, UCLA's ninth of the year.
