The No. 1 Stanford women’s soccer team is moving on to its first ever national final after defeating conference rival UCLA, 2-1, in extra time of the semifinals Friday in College Station, Texas.
The match was a back and forth battle between two very evenly matched teams, and in the end it took more than 90 minutes to separate them, with a Lauren Cheney strike canceling out Stanford’s opener through Kelley O’Hara. However, junior Christen Press scored the golden goal three minutes into extra time to put the Cardinal in the final.
On a cold night in Texas, the game was slow to heat up, with the Pac-10 foes feeling each other out at the start. About ten minutes in both teams began to carve out some chances, with Stanford (25-0-0) getting more opportunities—mainly through the bursting runs of Press down the left. Yet the end product was just not there for either team.
The half’s best chance fell to UCLA’s Kristina Larsen in the 26th minute. After receiving the ball in the midfield around 30 yards from goal, Larsen made a smart turn on Stanford midfielder Hillary Heath and unleashed a rocket from long range. Stanford goalkeeper Kira Maker did very well to make a flying stop.
Stanford would get a few more chances, but the rest of the first half saw Cheney—an Olympic gold medalist with the US team last year—begin to exert her influence, creating four good chances for herself in the half’s final ten minutes. With good pressure from the Cardinal defense, however, she was not able to convert, and the game remained goalless going into halftime.
Once again, both teams took a while to get going after the restart, but the Bruins came close in the 56th minute. UCLA midfielder Kylie Wright headed a corner kick towards goal, but Cheney—stationed in front of the net—put the ball wide as she went for a redirection with her head.
O’Hara had two good chances in the 58th minute—one where she snapped a shot right at Bruins keeper Chante’ Sandiford and then choosing to cross instead of shoot after she had touched the ball past an on-rushing Sandiford outside the box—but UCLA was putting on more pressure. In the 60th minute, Bruins freshman Chelsea Cline dragged a shot wide after Maker was out of position to punch out a free kick, and two minutes later UCLA’s Lauren Barnes struck the post on a free kick.
The first goal would arrive two minutes later, but would be at the other end of the pitch, when O’Hara made something out of nothing. The senior collected a pass with her back to goal outside the box and feinted back to the middle of the field, only to turn around and go to her right, away from goal. Still, she blasted a flawless shot that sailed over Sandiford and into the net. O’Hara has been known to score incredible goals, but this one was stunning.
Still, the match was far from over, and UCLA began to push forward in search of an equalizer- when it arrived in the 76th minute, it was no surprise that it came from Cheney. Off of a throw-in, the US international—near the top of the box—made a quick turn to her right and curled a high shot that tailed inches away from Maker and into the net. It was eerily similar to the goal O’Hara, who will soon be her international teammate, had scored 12 minutes earlier.
It was the first time Stanford had relinquished a lead all year, but the Cardinal was determined to get it back. Freshman midfielder Mariah Nogueira headed a long free kick by Heath towards the corner of the goal in the 85th minute, but Sandiford made a great save to keep it out with O’Hara lurking for a rebound.
With just three minutes left, the Card received a scare when a miscommunication between Maker and center back Alicia Jenkins allowed UCLA forward Sydney Leroux to burst between them and get off a shot. Fortunately for Stanford, it sailed over the crossbar.
Still, there was more drama before overtime. With 42 seconds left, Stanford forward Lindsay Taylor received a pass from O’Hara on the left and got the ball onto her favored right foot, but the sophomore curled her shot inches wide. Stanford won the resulting goal kick, and O’Hara raced onto it and touched it over Sandiford, who had charged out of her box. However, with Bruin defender Lauren Wilmoth chasing back to apply pressure, O’Hara saw her volley from the right side of the box go agonizingly off the outside of the post. The national semifinal was heading to a golden goal overtime.
It was not the first time the Card had been in overtime this year, having beaten Washington State 2-1 in the 95th minute back in October, and it was Press—who tied the WSU match in the 87th minute that day—who would provide the moment of magic this time. Three minutes into the overtime a long ball was cleared by the UCLA back line, but only as far as the junior. Her first touch was not great, pushing the ball forwards out of her range, but Press ran onto it and smashed a low shot into far corner of the goal from about 25 yards. It was a goal worthy of winning such an epic encounter.
The Cardinal now tries to complete its perfect season and win its first ever national championship on Sunday against North Carolina. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. Pacific time.