May 13, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - UCLA's Coralie Simmons scored a goal with 1:28 left in the game to give the Bruins a 5-4 win over Stanford in the NCAA Championship game at the Avery Aquatic Center on Sunday.
This is UCLA's fifth national title in six years, and first NCAA crown as this year's event was the inaugural championship. The two teams had met four times this year with the Cardinal winning every game. UCLA ends the year with a 19-4 record (its only losses coming to the Cardinal), while Stanford, which hadn't lost a game all year, finishes the season at 27-1.
The 6-on-5 opportunities were even as both teams were 3-for-6. In the four games earlier this season between the two, Stanford always held the advantage in power play situations.
Stanford opened the scoring in the first quarter with a power play goal from Brenda Villa. But UCLA came back with two scores to take a 2-1 lead after the first. UCLA's Robin Beauregard tied the score at 1-1 with a 6-on-5 goal, and Ashley Stachowski gave the Bruins their first lead with a power play goal at the :32 second mark in the first.
UCLA scored early in the second to gain its biggest lead of the game at 3-1. Simmons found the back of the net for her first score of the game with 4:59 to go in the second quarter. Villa closed the gap to 3-2 with her second goal of the game, and the Bruins took a one-goal lead into halftime.
In the second half of the game, the score was tied on two occasions. Stanford's Anne-Marie Keenan knotted the score at 3-3 with a 6-on-5 goal. But with :05 seconds left in the third, the Bruins got a goal from Kelly Heuchan to go up 4-3.
In the fourth quarter, Stanford tied it up at 4-4 with 3:27 remaining with Margie Dingeldein's 6-on-5 goal. But Simmons gave the Bruins the lead alone open in front of the Stanford goal with only goalkeeper Jackie Frank to beat. After a few fakes, Simmons scored the game-winner.
The Cardinal had one last scoring opportunity with less than :20 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Stanford drew up a play to isolate Villa and Ellen Estes. But the Bruin defense came up with a stop as Villa's shot was blocked.
Stanford's Frank was solid in the net, recording eight saves. Jamie Hipp notched six saves for the Bruins.
Simmons was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Joining Simmons on the All-Tournament First Team were teammates Beauregard and Heuchan. Stanford placed three players on the all-tourney squad with Frank, Ellen Estes and Villa. Loyola Marymount's Lucy Windes also earned first team accolades.
UCLA had four players named to the All-Tournament Second Team. Hipp was the second-team goalie while Elaine Zivich, Jenny Lamb and Kristin Guerin were also honored. Dingeldein of Stanford and Jamie Kroeze of LMU were also second-team selections.
In the consolation game, Loyola Marymount defeated Brown University 9-5 to take third place. LMU took a 4-1 lead into halftime. LMU's Lucy Windes opened the scoring with a power play goal at the 2:13 mark in the first quarter. Jamie Kroeze tallied a first-quarter goal as well, giving the Lions a 2-0 lead.
Windes scored her second goal of the game to open the second quarter. But the Bears got on the board with the first of three goals from Noel Pacarro. LMU scored one more goal in the first half as Teresa Guidi found the back of the net in a 6-on-5 situation, giving the Lions a 4-1 lead at half.
Guidi scored again early in the third quarter to give LMU a 5-1 lead. Then the Bears rallied for two consecutive goals, closing the gap to 5-3. Jeanie Ward-Waller and Tori Barbata scored for Brown. Then Windes extended the LMU lead to 6-3 with just over one minute left in the third.
In the fourth, Brown had two goals from Pacarro while LMU had goals from Windes, Julia Wald and Kroeze.
Devon Courtney had seven saves for LMU in the goal while Brown's Keira Heggie tallied six saves. LMU finishes the year with a 23-7 overall record and Brown ended at 21-11.
NCAA Championship Game Avery Aquatic Center Stanford, Calif. UCLA 5, Stanford 4 Team1234Final UCLA21115 Stanford11114 Scoring - UCLA: Coralie Simmons 2, Kelly Heuchan, Ashley Stachowski, Robin Beauregard. Stanford: Brenda Villa 2, Margie Dingeldein, Anne-Marie Keenan.
Saves - UCLA: Jaime Hipp 6. Stanford: Jackie Frank 8.
Final Records: UCLA 19-4, Stanford 27-1.
Attendance: 1,832 Consoloation Game Loyola Marymount 9, Brown University 5 Team1234Final Brown01225 LMU22239 Scoring - Brown: Noel Pacarro 3, Tori Barbata, Jeanie Ward-Waller. LMU: Lucy Windes 4, Teresa Guidi 2, Jamie Kroeze 2, Julia Wald.
Saves - Brown: Keira Heggie 6. LMU: Devon Courtney 7.
Final Records: Brown 21-11, LMU 23-7.
All-Tournament Team First Team Jackie Frank, Stanford Ellen Estes, Stanford Brenda Villa, Stanford Coralie Simmons, UCLA Robin Beauregard, UCLA Lucy Windes, Loyola Marymount Kelly Heuchan, UCLA Second Team Margie Dingeldein, Stanford Jaime Hipp, UCLA Elaine Zivich, UCLA Jamie Kroeze, Loyola Marymount Jenny Lamb, UCLA Kristin Guerin, UCLA
Most Valuable Player - Coralie Simmons, UCLA