Bruins earn first berth to Final Four

  EDWARD LIN Stephanie Rigamat heads the
ball in a game against Texas A&M. UCLA now advances to the
Final Four after their 2-1 win against Clemson. UCLA
2 Clemson 1

By Jeff Agase
Daily Bruin Contributor

Do the Bruins know the way to San Jose?

If not, the UCLA women’s soccer team better get some
directions after it pulled off a titanic upset of No. 3 seeded
Clemson 2-1 Saturday at Riggs Field in South Carolina.

With the win, the sixth-seeded Bruins (18-3-1) clinched their
first ever berth in the Final Four of the College Cup and will face
unseeded Portland Friday at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.

“I want to congratulate Clemson on a great game,”
UCLA head coach Jillian Ellis said. “It was a very intense,
hard fought game. It was a battle today. We lost to Clem-son in the
season opener and after that game I told my team that we would be
back. This game could’ve gone either way. We’re happy
to be going to the Final Four.”

Revenge was the not-too-subtle theme of the rematch since the
Bruins dropped their season opener 1-0, despite outshooting the
Tigers 15-7, and returned to Westwood with a tally in the
“L” column.

This time around, the teams were even on shots with 11 and the
Tigers provided an onslaught in the second half that the Bruins
were barely able to withstand. The teams entered halftime tied 1-1
after Clemson’s Deliah Arrington scored a goal in the 36th
minute to answer UCLA freshman forward Lindsay Greco’s goal
just over fifteen minutes into the match.

“There were a lot of momentum shifts,” Ellis said.
“When we came into the locker room at halftime, we were
naturally down because we had given up a goal. I always ask them,
“˜What’s the score,’ and (they responded)
“˜0-0.’ I said “˜You’ve got 45 minutes to
battle this one out.'”

And battle the Bruins did.

Defender Krista Boling took a long shot at the Clemson goal that
Tiger goalkeeper Katie Carson deflected, but Boling’s
midfielder sister Breana was on the spot to unleash a shot from
just two yards out that found the back of the net at the 59:16
mark.

The Tigers switched on the afterburners in the final fifteen
minutes of the second half, garnering two quality scoring chances,
but UCLA goalkeeper CiCi Peterson made the two most important of
her eight saves on the evening. Peterson deflected a 30-yard shot
up and off the crossbar with about sixteen minutes remaining and
then repeated the feat with just 5:40 left.

“She (Peterson) was not herself for the first goal,”
Ellis said of the goal allowed to Arrington, only her eighth
yielded on the season. “Her performance in the second half
was just amazing.”

Clemson head coach Ray Leone was pleased with his team’s
performance to conclude the game but couldn’t hide his
squad’s disappointment.

“I was disappointed how we came out early in the
game,” he said in a statement. “Momentum is important
in the game of soccer. We had the momentum and got it back at the
end. We had the opportunities, but we just couldn’t score in
the end.”

“I told the team after the game that I was very proud of
how they played the last 15 minutes. They took it to
them.”

For the Bruins, the victory marks a gigantic step in the
program’s eight-year history. The farthest UCLA had advanced
in the tournament previously was the quarterfinal round, where
Notre Dame routed the Bruins 8-0 in 1997.

The victory pleased Ellis, but satisfaction will come from only
one thing.

“I wanted this so badly for my team,” she said.
“I really haven’t thought about it personally. I wanted
to for my seniors. It is a great reward for them”

“Our goal is to win the national championship. It does not
matter who we play in the Final Four.”

Standing in the way of their goal is Portland, which upset
second-seeded Washington in the third round and upended host and
No. 7 seed Penn State 1-0 in the quarterfinals. This marks the
fifth College Cup for the Pilots (18-3).

The other half of the semifinal bracket showcases two of the
most storied women’s soccer programs in history. Top-seeded
and unbeaten Notre Dame (23-0-1) takes on fifth-seeded North
Carolina (19-3) for a chance at a national title.

Ultimately, the Bruins know the way to a first-ever national
title: 334 miles and two wins.