UCLA Ends Season for Women's Soccer |
Clemson, SC-The Boling sisters, twins Krista and Breana, combined on a
goal for the first time all season, leading UCLA to a 2-1 NCAA women's soccer tournament victory over Clemson Saturday night at Clemson's Riggs Field. UCLA now advances to the NCAA Final Four in San Jose, CA with an 18-3-1 record, while Clemson's season ends with a 19-3-1 mark. The Lady Tigers lost just three games all year, all by one goal to top 15 ranked teams. UCLA scored the winning goal at the 59:16 mark. Krista Boling sent a ball from the far right corner of the field toward the Clemson goal. The ball was deflected by Clemson goal keeper Katie Carson near the right corner of the goal. Breana Boling controlled the ball and booted the deflection from point blank range into the Clemson goal. It was the fifth goal of the year for Breana Boling, a junior from San Jose, CA, who will be going home along with her sister for the Final Four next week. Clemson had two opportunities to tie the game, as the Lady Tigers hit the crossbar twice in the last 16 minutes. First, Heather Beem's shot from in front 30 yards out, was tipped into the air by UCLA goal keeper Cici Peterson. The ball hit the cross bar and bounced back on the field, but Clemson could not score. With just 5:40 left, Allison Mitchell headed the ball from in front. Again Peterson tipped the ball, it hit the cross bar and bounded to the right side near the goal. Clemson's Deliah Arrington was in pursuit, but could not control the ball. UCLA cleared. UCLA had the upperhand over the first 29 minutes of the contest, and out-shot Clemson 7-0 during that time frame. Tracey Milburn, UCLA's second leading scorer, had three shots in the first seven minutes of the game and had the tempo in the Bruins favor. UCLA got on the board first at 15:01 of the first half. Stephanie Rigamat, a junior from La Crescenta, CA picked up a ball that was deflected by Clemson defender Nancy Augustyniak and chased down the ball on the right wing. She passed the ball to the opposite wing 20 yards from the goal, where Lindsay Greco booted the ball past Clemson keeper Katie Carson. It was just the seventh goal of the year for Greco, and just the 13th goal allowed by Carson all year. It was Rigamat's 11th assist of the year, best on the UCLA team. Carson played hurt most of the night. In the first two minutes of the game she collided with Rigamat, who was chasing after a lead ball. Play was stopped while both players recovered from injury. Carson suffered a left knee injury, but stayed in the contest for the entire 90 minutes. Clemson tied the match at the 35:39 mark of the first half on a goal by Deliah Arringon, her 12th score of the season. Clemson's sophomore striker took a lead pass from Lindsay Browne alluded UCLA keeper Cici Peterson and scored from the left side. Her shot crossed was a ground ball that from the left side that landed in the right corner of the goal. That goal gave Clemson new life. Clemson outshot the Bruins 4-0 over the last 16 minutes of the half. Arrington's goal was just the eighth yielded by UCLA all year, and it was the 12th assist of the season by Browne, the only native of California (Encinitas) on the Clemson team. Her goal back on August 25th had given Clemson a 1-0 win over UCLA in the season opener. Clemson ended its season with a 19-3-1 record, its most successful season in history. The Lady Tigers, ranked fifth in the NSCAA poll entering the contest, finished he year with seven wins over top 25 teams, including six over top 15 teams. Scoring: 1. UCLA-Lindsay Greco (Stephanie Rigamat), 15:01 2. CLEMSON-Deliah Arrington (Lindsay Browne), 35:39 3. UCLA-Breana Boling (Krista Boling), 59:16 Shots: Clemson 11, UCLA 11 Corner Kicks: Clemson 2, UCLA 4 Saves: Carson (CU) 3, Peterson (UCLA) 8 Fouls: Clemson 9, UCLA 16 Offsides: Clemson 0, UCLA 2 Attendance: 798 Clemson Head Coach Ray Leone "You have to give credit to UCLA. This loss hurts. When you invest so much time and energy into a season it is difficult to take. It started last year when we lost to North Carolina in the Final Eight. We started back on August 10th, so it is a long season. I am proud of my team. We improved to the point where we had the quarterfinals match at home and that is important. We played hard enough, but we did not play well enough. UCLA had a lot to do with that. "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 thought UCLA took it to us tonight, they outplayed us. "I was disappointed how we came out early in the game. I don't know if it would have changed that much because UCLA is an experienced team. "UCLA changed a lot over the course of the season. They had two people starting who were coming off the bench in the season opener. No one really knew each other in the opener, it was like a preseason game. They were tall, athletic, a good team. "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. "This team accomplished so much this year. It is heart breaking that we did not go to the Final Four. The seniors are crying, but when they look back they will see they accomplished a lot. UCLA Coach Jillian Ellis "I want to congratulate Clemson on a great game. It was a very intense, hard fought game. It was a battle today. We lost to Clemson in the season opener and after that game I told my team we would be back. This game could have gone either way, we are happy to be going to the Final Four. "I wanted this so badly for my team. I really haven't thought about it personally. I wanted to for my seniors. It is a great reward for them. I feel fortunate to be able to take this team to the Final Four. "The Pac 10 is very competitive. We didn't feel pressure as the only Pac 10 to advance. It is a good conference and hopefully we have added some credibility to the league. "We have been getting better and better early in games. We are a high octane team. To come out and score first gave us confidence that we could play with them. I was proud of the way we played the first 15 minutes. We played very well early. I told the team if they can keep playing like that in the second half we can win. "Having played here earlier in the season was a benefit to our team. It was important to play on this field earlier. It was a movtivation for us having lost to them earlier. We felt like the underdog and I like that role. "Our goal is to win the National Championship. It does not matter who we play in the Final Four.
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