UCLA Can't Get by Kristin Olsen and USC

12/08/2007 02:47 pm

Gayle Bryan

Tags: Women's College Cup , UCLA , USC , Ali Khosroshahin , Kristin Olsen , Jill Ellis , Amy Rodriguez , Lauren Cheney , Christina DiMartino

UCLA was supposed win the National Championship this year. They have the talent all over the field. Most schools would be happy to build a women's soccer program around a Christina DiMartino, a Lauren Cheney, a Danesha Adams or a Kara Lang. UCLA has them all.

They beat Portland in the quarters in a game that many observers, myself included, thought should have been contested for the championship.

And it’s not like they didn’t come to play. UCLA looked to be the superior team for much of the match. They put on some outrageous displays of skill like Christina DiMartino toying with a handful of USC defenders before drilling a shot on goal from point blank range.

But Kristin Olsen, USC’s sophomore keeper came up with it. And she kept coming up with whatever UCLA threw at her. UCLA out shot USC 19-8 but only managed to get one by Olsen, powered in with a remarkable display of skill and sheer force of will by Lauren Cheney in the 38th minute.

UCLA rode that one goal well into the second half. Olsen kept USC in the match recording eight total saves, of which more than one were downright spectacular.

USC didn’t have much going offensively and I was ready to chalk the match up to a UCLA win and then Amy Rodriguez took over for USC, scoring two goals in a six-minute span to lead the Trojans to the final.

The Bruins were understandably devastated at the loss. A visibly shaken, UCLA coach, Jill Ellis, gave a short press conference while her players suffered through a post-match fireworks display before mourning with their family and friends for a season that wasn’t supposed to end this way.

The Women of Troy were a bit more subdued than you might expect for a team that had just earned the right to play in their first National Championship. Coach Ali Khosroshahin indicated that his team wouldn’t be celebrating until they won the final. “We’ve still got work to do,” he said.

The Trojans will take on the Florida State Seminoles in the final of the 2007 NCAA Women’s College Cup on Sunday at 1pm. The match will be broadcast live of ESPN2.

*Photo by Andy Mead, Yellow Card Journalism

Comments

netidslr

Friday February 29 2008 08:25:51 am

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Press Comment

Bruin Fan

Friday February 08 2008 03:48:01 pm

The comment to the press regarding the "heart of this team" related to the NCAA tournament path and the response of this team's heart to fight through. The prior two years did not have as highly ranked opponents. Each team has had heart but this team had the opportunity to battle and fight through more difficult opponents.

UCLA

Skip Hobart

Tuesday December 11 2007 01:17:59 am

In light of the recent lessons learned during the Ryan/Solo World Cup. I found it disappointing to hear during the half time interview with Coach Ellis of the regionally televised UP/UCLA quarter final game that she singled out and criticized player performances. This is non-revenue college soccer, not the World Cup or the EPL. I find those types of comments disheartening of a coach who not only represents a top tier program, but more importantly, who is also very influential in our U.S. development program. Her players have taken her cue, by suggesting that past UCLA teams didn't have the heart of this current team. a profoundly revealing statement of her UCLA program. In the future it will be very hard to cheer for any team she coaches. Maybe the U20 and U19 teams coached by Ellis should be re-examined. With so much talent, ULCA was out coached, maybe recent results of our U20 and U19 teams coached by Ellis were too? If I was competing with UCLA for a top prospect, all I would have to do is play a video of her interviews. The negativity is polarizing. Would you like to be singled out as an excuse at half time on T.V. ? Certainly John Wooden is not mentoring her program.

usc-ucla what happened?

giedris klivecka

Sunday December 09 2007 12:12:09 pm

what happened to UCLA is no different than what happened to the U.S national team. They both got exposed by playing against teams that were coached properly and organized to win the game at hand. It was sad to see talented players like Demartino and Evans play so primitively. countless times Demartino gave up possesion by overdribbling deep in midfield into groups of defenders and allowing the USC defense to reorganize while she dribbled side to side. Evans showed no movement unless she had the ball at her feet. where was the old give and go? why the constant long ball intto the middle? where was the discipline, the coaching to organize seven national team members into some kind of patient , cohesive unit? how many of these coaches or players ever watch the world game to see how it might be done? you dont have to re-invent the wheel.there is a reason why the old guard was knocked out of the tournaments,both national and international. The old style NCAA womens soccer was too primitive to last for too much longer.

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UCLA Can't Get by Kristin Olsen and USC

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UCLA

usc-ucla what happened?

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