UCLA Women's Soccer Beats Alabama, Advances to National Championship
Coach Margueritte Aozasa and the Bruins are officially one win away from history.
When junior forward Reilyn Turner scored to give No. 1 seed UCLA women's soccer (20-2-1, 9-2-0 Pac-12) a 1-0 lead, it placed the Bruins in a familiar position against No. 1 seed Alabama (23-2-1, 10-0 SEC). Heading into the match, the Bruins were 18-0 in matches where they scored first, and it was no different in Friday night's NCAA Women's College Cup semifinals.
Sophomore defender Quincy McMahon and graduate defender Madelyn Desiano scored in the second half, allowing UCLA to best Alabama 3-0 and move on to the national championship game.
Aozasa now has the chance to become the only first-year head coach in NCAA women's soccer history to guide her team to a national title.
The former Stanford assistant coach already had plenty of experience in the College Cup – most recently helping the Cardinal win it all in 2019 via a 5-4 victory over North Carolina in penalty kicks – but UCLA hadn't been there since 2017, nor had they claimed a championship since their first and only in 2013.
But despite only scoring once in the first half, the Bruins were on the front foot from the match's opening whistle Friday in Cary, North Carolina.
UCLA began the match with a flurry of shots, leading to six saves from Alabama goalkeeper McKinley Crone in the first half. However, the Crimson Tide could not keep the blue and gold scoreless for long.
Sophomore forward Lexi Wright earned the Bruins three chances within the first ten minutes of the contest. The latter of the two shots forced a double save from Crone, temporarily saving the Crimson Tide from an early deficit.
Turner collected a cross from McMahon in the 30th minute and deposited a tap-in shot into the net to put UCLA ahead 1-0.
That goal was the former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year's third in her postseason career and her 10th of the campaign. It was also her first since Oct. 20, therefore ending a seven-match goalscoring drought.
Crone faced a more clinical version of UCLA in the second half. The Bruins scored twice, wrapping up the match with two goals scored within two minutes of each other.
McMahon made the score 2-0 with a deflected strike in the 52nd minute, while Desiano added on one more in the 54th minute with a curling effort that evaded Crone on its way to the top left corner of the net.
Graduate goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy was busy herself on Friday night, even though she notched her ninth clean sheet of 2022 to tie her career high. The sixth-year Bruin made seven saves, becoming just the second goalkeeper all season to prevent Alabama from scoring.
As the final whistle blew, UCLA had almost doubled the Crimson Tide's 11 shots by firing off 20 of its own, 11 of which were on goal.
The Bruins will now move on to the Women's College Cup final with a chance to win the school its 120th NCAA championship. UCLA will have to face off against No. 2 seed North Carolina, a program the blue and gold defeated in Chapel Hill on Sept. 4.
The winner-takes-all match will kick off Monday at 3 p.m.
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