What The Heart Wants

The Whole Shooting Match

Championship Sunday at Orlando City Stadium arrived with a little nip in the air, as a cold front hit central Florida and brought the normal 80 degree temperatures into the mid-60s. After warm-ups, a pre-game ceremony was held to recognize all College Cup champions in attendance. On the field from the Hearts organization are Erica (2015), Morgan (2016), and Sammy Jo (2016), with Cami Levin (2011) and her sister Savannah (2016) joining them. Moe, Kelley, Carm, Ali, and Steph were standing along the rail watching the festivities when Steph noticed Christine Sinclair (2002, 2005) and Melissa Tancredi (2004) amongst the honorees. Once the ceremony ended, Carm left to join Erica and Wendy to watch the match while Steph went to meet Sammy Jo and Kristin so the three of them could stake out a place to commiserate and critique the starting goalkeepers.

Following the introductions, national anthem, and pre-match handshakes, the two teams headed back to their benches for some last-minute words of wisdom from their coaches.

Amanda Cromwell (UCLA coach): Four years ago, a team very much like yourselves came into an NCAA final as underdogs, but with talent and resiliency were able to defeat Florida State in overtime to win the title. You ladies have that same opportunity today. Trust your teammates to lift you up when you fall and to push you through the rough moments of the match. In the end, believe that we can win this game and bring that trophy back to Westwood.

Robbie Church (Duke coach): Two years ago, we let an opportunity to win this title slip away. Today, we won't do that. This game comes down ultimately to two players: Jessie Fleming and our Becca. Quinny, follow her EVERYWHERE! I don't care if you don't get off a single shot in this game. If she's in our box, you're there with her. If she's on a sideline, you box her in or poke the ball out. Heck, if she goes to the bathroom, I want you to be there handing her the toilet paper. Do that, and we will win this game.

Both teams took the field and the Bruins kicked off attacking the east goal. A shot by Anika Rodriguez in the third minute was easily stopped by Proctor, who rolled out the ball to Schuyler Debree to start the Blue Devils' first offensive foray. A free kick just outside the box by Ella Stevens was tipped over the bar by UCLA goalkeeper Teagan Micah, resulting in a corner kick. Quinn sent in the ball, but Imani Dorsey's header sailed wide of the far post. The next 20 minutes or so had little tempo as both teams tried to pick up the opening goal. As substitutions were made near the end of the half, the Bruins got mixed up on their defensive assignments, leaving Dorsey to slip in behind the back line for a lofted ball from Ashton Miller. Micah came rushing out of her net and blocked her shot, but hauled the Duke forward down with her legs in the process. The referee, Danielle Chesky, pointed at the spot for a penalty kick. Debree stepped up and slotted the ball into the corner of the net, giving the Blue Devils a 1-0 halftime lead.

The teams came out for the second half and UCLA made a formational adjustment, moving Fleming to left forward in an attempt to get her out of Quinn's shadow. The switch made the Canadian attacker more threatening, but still unable to breach Proctor's net. Following the game's second media timeout, Fleming received a throw-in from Viviana Villacorta along the left sideline, but turned right into Debree, who toe-poked the ball out to Quinn. She switched fields to Morgan Reid, then moved up the field. Reid's pass to Miller was dribbled through the middle of the park before she sent it wide to Stevens. Stevens' cross was headed out of the box by Mackenzie Cerda, but landed at Quinn's feet, who held the ball for a couple of seconds while Micah slid over to her right, leaving a wide-open left side of the net. A simple shot from the redshirt senior hit the back of the net to double the Blue Devils' advantage. Despite mounting heavy pressure over the last 20 minutes, the Bruins couldn't get clean shots off against Duke's stifling defense. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Duke bench got ready to rush the field. When the horn went off, everyone made a beeline for the team's penalty area to swarm Proctor. After around 30 seconds of mob pile time, Quinn broke off and went to search out Fleming. The pair embraced and the older player wiped away some tears that were falling from the sophomore's eyes.