UCLA Women’s Soccer are going to the College Cup Championship Game

The #4 UCLA Women’s Soccer team needed a shootout to take down #3 Duke in the semifinals of the College Cup. The Bruins will play Stanford in the championship game.

The #4 UCLA Women’s Soccer team is going back to the national championship game. On Friday night, the Bruins took out the #3 Duke Blue Devils, but needed a shootout to advance.

The game was deadlocked after regulation and two 20-minute overtime periods. UCLA was able to take 15 shots on goal while Duke sent in 10, but this was a defensive affair from the beginning. Both the Bruins and Blue Devils were were executing excellent defense and forced several errant attempts.

For the game, UCLA had 3 saves while Duke only needed one. Both teams were playing the ball from midfield and had a tough time moving the it into the box. That led to the eventual shootout.

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Duke went first during the shootout, making their first shot, which was followed up by a UCLA goal. Duke then sent their second shot careening off the cross bar while the Bruins netted their second attempt. Duke got back in it with the second goal off their third attempt and managed to save UCLA’s third.

Both teams made their fourth attempt, tying the shootout at 3-3, but Duke made a crucial mistake on their fifth, missing on a potential go-ahead goal.

Instead, the Bruins’ Marley Canales  stepped up for their fifth attempt and connected with twine for the win. Bruins are now headed to the National Championship Game on Sunday against Stanford.

The interesting thing about this matchup, aside from the all-Pac-12 final, is that both schools are tied for the most NCAA titles with 113 each. It s the second time in the last year that UCLA and Stanford will meet in a championship game to decide the fate of the school with the most titles.

Last season, Stanford Women’s water polo defeated UCLA to win their sixth title and tying UCLA for 113 across all sports.

The winner of the Women’s Soccer College Cup gets the coveted lead for NCAA titles and 114 overall. Needless to say, there is a lot riding on this game. Additionally, if UCLA wins, it will be their second in five years. Head coach Amanda Cromwell won her first title with the Bruins in her first season in Westwood. Let’s hope she captures another. Go Bruins!