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No. 1 Cal Poly Mustangs Run Away from No. 2 UCLA 10-5 to Advance to National Collegiate Club Championship Semifinals
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Casey Clark (Fr., Agoura Hills, Calif.) scored four times, including three in the fourth period, as No. 1 Cal Poly outscored No. 2 UCLA 6-2 in the second half to take a 10-5 victory over the Bruins in the second round of the 2010 National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Arizona.
The two-time defending National Champion Mustangs advance to the semifinals where Cal Poly will meet either No. 5 University of California-Santa Cruz or No. 8 the University of Pennsylvania. UCLA will next compete at 8:40 p.m. this evening against the loser of a second round contest between UC-Santa Cruz and Penn as the Bruins can finish no higher than fifth in the final tournament standings due to today's loss.
In a battle of the top two ranked teams in the nation, the Mustangs were able to find enough offense in the second half to espand on a 4-3 halftime advantage and hand UCLA its second loss of the season.
Cal Poly, which defeated UCLA 11-10 OT in the Pacific Coast Division Championship title game for the program's 10th division crown, never trailed against the Bruins. Kristy Avis (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) opened the scoring with 4:35 left in the first period before Kelley Gause (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) slipped through the UCLA defense to deposit a shot past netminder Bari Cappalletti (Fr., Danville, Calif.) at the 3:27 mark for a quick 2-0 lead.
However, the Bruins responded due to Cal Poly mistakes as Adele Young (Jr., Long Beach, Calif.) broke the ice for the Blue & Gold with a man-up tally at the 1:47 mark before Desiree Wilson (Jr., La Verne, Calif.) knotted the game at 2-2 with an exclusion score of her own with 1:02 left in the opening seven minutes of play.
The game remained at 2-2 until the 2:06 mark of the second period when Clark punched in a shot from the wing to make it 3-2 in Cal Poly's favor. Bre Sheldon (So., Laguna Nigel, Calif.) responded for the Bruins with a rising shot which drew nothing but net at 1:36 to make it 3-3, but the Mustangs used a penalty on Sheldon 20 seconds later to retake the lead on a successful five-meter shot by Sarah Ur (Jr., Lompoc, Calif.) for a 4-3 halftime lead.
Ur's penalty conversion sparked Cal Poly's offense as the Mustangs came out firing in the second half to rattle off four consecutive goals as Avis (2:56, third), Ur (00:07, third) and Clark (5:13, fourth) racked up natural goals before Erika Bigbie (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) zipped a shot past the outstretched arms of Cappalletti on a man-up opportunity for an 8-3 lead with 4:06 to play.
The deficit, combined with the Cal Poly defense, was too much for the Bruins to overcome as the teams traded goals down to the final horn for the 10-5 final score.
For Cal Poly, Ur and Avis finished with two goals each, while Gause and Bigbie tacked on solo markers in the field. The star of the game, however, was goalie Noelle Wondergem (Jr., Arroyo Grande, Calif.) who turned aside six shots, including four in the second half, to keep UCLA's offense at bay.
For the Bruins, Cappalletti made two saves on defense, while Erica Bonetti (Gr., Burbank, Calif.) finished with two goals to lead Wilson, Young and Sheldon who each tacked on solo scores.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 2 University of California-Los Angeles | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -- | 5 |
| No. 1 California Polytechnic State
University | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -- | 10 |
Cal Poly Goals: Casey Clark (4); Kristy Avis (2); Sarah Ur (2); Erika Bigbie; Kelley Gause
UCLA Goals: Erica Bonetti (2); Adele Young; Bre Sheldon; Desiree Wilson
Saves: Cal Poly - Noelle Wondergem (6) ; UCLA - Bari Cappalletti (2)
Exclusions: Cal Poly - 7 ; UCLA - 7
Advantage Opportunities: Cal Poly - 2-for-7 ; UCLA - 3-for-7
Sprints: Cal Poly - 1-for-4 ; UCLA - 3-for-4
