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There’s pulling a rabbit out of a hat, after which there’s what UCLA simply did.
No. 1-seed UCLA captured its second nationwide title Monday evening, beating second-seeded North Carolina 3-2 in additional time, avenging the 2000 championship recreation. North Carolina dominated the primary half however went into halftime tied. UCLA blitzed the Tar Heels all through the second half, and scores with 17 seconds left in regulation to pressure additional time.
Only UCLA got here near scoring in additional time, however the Bruins needed to wait till halfway by the second additional time to get a take a look at the web. The first required VAR to substantiate that the Tar Heels had blocked a shot from Reilyn Turner. But when Maricarmen Reyes one-touched a deflected save again on the internet two minutes, no replay was wanted: the Bruins had been forward 3-2, with solely 3:20 left to play.
UCLA wanted to make some changes at halftime, and it didn’t take lengthy for it to clarify that changes had been made. The Bruins took solely minutes to reel off a pair of high quality transition pictures from Sunshine Fontes. And they had been in a position to get again into attacking kind after Avery Patterson’s purpose, outshooting North Carolina 11-4 by the tip of regulation. Winger Lexi Wright discovered the again of the web within the 79th minute. With the Heels up 2-1, it appeared that was solely sufficient to make the ultimate minutes a bit extra suspenseful.
But UCLA by no means let up. And with simply 30 seconds left, Ally Lemos served an ideal nook — it might’ve been a direct rating, however Turner headed it in from the far put up only for good measure.
UCLA’s second-half offensive barrage solely allowed a couple of breaks for North Carolina, however the Tar Heels made essentially the most of them. In the 58th minute, they pushed an interception right into a counter, obtained a crosser from Emily Moxley down the suitable wing, and the Bruins couldn’t preserve everybody marked. Patterson obtained inside her defender for a free header to open the scoring.
Just for good measure, the Tar Heels repeated the method within the 74th minute, however with Libby Moore serving the crosser. As if it was incomes karmic justice for attending to halftime tied, UCLA was down 2-0 regardless of having managed many of the second half.
In stark distinction to their semifinal win over Alabama, the Bruins had been pushed onto their heels to start out. North Carolina dominated possession over the primary 35 minutes by tackling and intercepting within the midfield. The Tar Heels’ midfielders pressed higher than the Bruins, and the North Carolina again line persistently minimize off UCLA’s passing angles in transition. The Tar Heels by no means obtained too near scoring: North Carolina was held to only three pictures on purpose, all low-percentage pictures proper at goalie Lauren Brzykcy.
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