University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
BYU Shuts Out UCLA in Second Round of NCAA Tournament
November 14, 1998
LOS ANGELES - The No. 18 UCLA Bruins (17-4-1, 7-2) lost a tough one today, falling to No. 13 BYU (20-4-0,5-1) 2-0 in the second round of the 1998 NCAA tournament.
UCLA dominated the game, possessing the ball for most of the first half and outshooting the Cougars 17-13. The Bruins had several scoring opportunities but were not able to capitalize.
Cougar midfielder Sarah Higham put BYU on the scoreboard in the 23rd minute, shooting the ball from 20 yards out. The ball sailed into the top left of the goal, hit the crossbar and went in for BYU's first goal of the game.
The Bruins came close to equalizing the score in the 52 minute when sophomore midfielder Venus James headed the ball into the net only to have the ball saved by a BYU defender. Freshman forward Staci Duncan got the rebound, but struck the ball out of play.
BYU did not give up, scoring again in the 77th minute. Higham drew UCLA goalkeeper Lindsay Culp out of the net, but Culp was not able to control the save, and forward Shauna Rohbock tapped the ball into an empty net.
"We struggled today and were fortunate in the first half. UCLA was unable to finish strong chances, and they had good looks. We just fought it out. Soccer is a weird game - it just comes down to putting the ball into the net," said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood.
BYU's victory was its second tournament win in school history. The Cougars advance to play Santa Clara in the third round.
UCLA ends the season with a 17-4-1 record and back-to-back Pac-10 titles.
Speaking of UCLA's season on the whole, head coach Todd Saldaa said, "Going into the season, not a lot of people picked us to win the Pac-10. We achieved a lot of success winning back-to-back Pac-10 Championships. This team has a lot of potential, and we're only at the beginning of it."
TEAM 1ST 2ND 1OT 2OT TOTAL UCLA 0 0 0 0 0 BYU 1 1 0 0 2SCORING Time Goal (Assist) BYU UCLA BYU 22:41 Sarah Higham (un) 1 0 BYU 76:47 Shauna Rohbock (Higham) 2 0
Shots: 17 (UCLA), 13 (BYU)
Saves: Lindsay Culp 3 (UCLA), Jennifer Waldren 4 (BYU)
Fouls: 7 (UCLA), 18 (BYU)
CK: 3 (UCLA), 4 (BYU)
QUOTES
UCLA Head Coach Todd Saldaa
"Coming into the game, I felt confident that we'd play good soccer. My concern was for the type of team they are - they are experienced and fight hard against their opponents. They are very effective. It's not the ideal soccer to play or watch, and it's not pretty, but it's about getting the job done. Experience wise, we just weren't comfortable in facing these kind of teams. They treated the game differently and were taking their goals any way they could get it. We were hitting long balls and trying to get it into the box."
On UCLA's season
"Going into the season, not a lot of people picked us to win the Pac-10. We achieved a lot of success winning back to back Pac-10 Championships. This team has a lot of potential, and we're only at the beginning of it."
UCLA Defender Skylar Little
On UCLA's emotions after the first goal
"Our emotions didn't change. It was just a setback - something we had to overcome. After the second goal, our
emotions changed, and our heads were down."
UCLA Defender Karissa Hampton
"Every time someone took a shot they cleared it out. So many times, we had a shot come this close to the goal line."
"We didn't finish our goals or our opportunities."
BYU Coach Jennifer Rockwood
"We struggled today and were fortunate in the first half. UCLA was unable to finish strong chances, and they had good looks. We just fought it out. Soccer is a weird game - it just comes down to putting it into the net."
"UCLA is an outstanding team. They are very young, and I'm sure they will be an extremely strong team next year." "We came in tight and struggled to get control. The possession play was not there. UCLA was all over us. We struggled but fought through it."
"The coaching staff was very concerned because we didn't go out to a strong start. But we were feeling very fortunate. We've been on the other end of that before, but the ball bounced our way today."
"We started flat because UCLA has great speed and a tremendous group of athletes. We haven't played on a dry surface in two to three weeks. I was concerned about getting beat on the surface, especially with their speed. It took us a while to get into it."
BYU Forward Shauna Rohbock
On her second half goal
"I was hoping that with my speed I could put the ball
around her. With her angle, she came out flat. And when she went down, I had an open shot."
"We were timid and scared to get beat. After the second goal, we knew we can play with UCLA. We didn't use our confidence before our second goal."
BYU Goalkeeper Jennifer Waldren
"From the first few minutes until we scored, I was scared. Our defense was letting them get open shots. Once we scored, though, the pressure was off, and our defense picked it up."