Cardinal get 2nd soccer title

Two Pac-12 teams from California fought for their second national titles Sunday, and Stanford ended up hoisting the championship trophy.

The No. 1 Cardinal (24-1) held off No. 4 UCLA (19-3-3) for a 3-2 victory in the NCAA Women’s College Cup final at Orlando City Stadium.

Stanford midfielder Jaye Boissiere’s game-winner in the 68th minute secured a 22-game winning streak for the program, which celebrated its first title in 2011.

The win also broke a tie between the schools for most NCAA team championships, giving Stanford 114.

“The character of this team has been very strong,” Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. “We talked about determination and resiliency, and they fought back and they weren’t going to be denied.”

Stanford took a 2-0 lead in the first half off goals from senior Andi Sullivan and redshirt junior Kyra Carusa. But there was a clear shift in momentum in the second half, and during a four-minute stretch of fevered attack UCLA evened the score in front of an announced crowd of 1,938.

First, goalkeeper Alison Jahansouz rushed out to meet charging Bruin Zoey Goralski, fouled her and earned a yellow card.

UCLA sophomore Jessie Fleming converted the ensuing penalty kick to put her team on the board.

Four minutes later, freshman Delanie Sheehan leapt in the air to get her head on a corner kick and equalize.

“During halftime we talked about it and said we were going to go out and fight until the whistle,” Sheehan said. “That’s what we did.”

The Cardinal huddled together for a moment after the goal, bowing their heads and placing their arms across each other’s shoulders.

“[Junior defender] Alana Cook kind of gathered us in and said, ‘All right, it’s a new game,’ ” Sullivan said. “We didn’t dwell on the fact that we just gave up two goals, we just said, ‘OK, new start, new game.’ ”

It worked. Boissiere found open space shortly after and cranked a shot into the far post. Stanford again held the lead and wouldn’t give it up.

The Cardinal finished with 10 shots on goal and 15 total compared to UCLA’s four and five, respectively.

Sullivan, who left last year’s NCAA tournament with a torn ACL before Stanford was eliminated in the second round, helped her team to redemption with a goal in the 26th minute of Sunday’s final.

After receiving a through pass from freshman Catarina Macario, Sullivan slid the ball past UCLA keeper Teagan Micah for a 2-0 advantage.

The Cardinal call the first five minutes of a game their “Big Five” when they want to come out fast on the attack and set the tone of the match. They did that, controlling the opening minutes until an opportunity presented itself.

Macario, credited with assists on all three of Stanford’s goals, took a shot that deflected off a UCLA defender in the 15th minute. Micah failed to secure the ball, and it dropped to forward Kyra Carusa, who contorted her body just right to finish and put Stanford up 1-0.

UCLA had a spurt of energy immediately following that second goal, keeping the ball around Stanford’s box for about a 10-minute stretch. Defender Teagan McGrady blocked a rifled shot by UCLA’s Hailie Mace to keep the Bruins scoreless at the half.

“I felt like Stanford got a little tired at the end of the first half, and we kind of used that as momentum,” said Bruins coach Amanda Cromwell, who coached at UCF for 14 years before taking the UCLA job in 2013. “I think these girls have shown all year long they’re super resilient. They believe and trust in each other — that’s what you saw in that comeback.”

But, as Ratcliffe said, Stanford would not be denied.