Oct. 4, 2002
SCU Head Coach Jerry Smith
It's always great to win in overtime. It was nerve-wrecking for us, going into overtime against a top team like UCLA and being on the road, but it's great to end the game on a goal. There's no better way to do it. Our team showed a lot of character tonight.UCLA has a lot more depth on their bench and used it tonight. That can take its toll toward the end of the game. But in the second half, I thought we were the better team. I proud the way the team played.
The two halves were night and day. We were tentative in the first half. We tried to do something different with our formation that would suit Aly Wagner's game. With the full National Team, she plays an attacking midfielder right behind two forwards. We tried that tonight. When she pulled her hamstring 10 minutes into the game and couldn't continue play, we didn't have a reason to stay in that formation, but it was just too late to adjust back.
At halftime I told the team we were at a crossroads tonight. It was a turning point in our season and we needed to step up to play and face the challenges or be a mediocre team the rest of the season. We may suffer other losses the rest of the year, but it's not going to be for lack of aggressiveness. I'm proud of the way our girls responded tonight.
SCU Junior Forward Kristi Candau
It feels great to win on UCLA's field. It was a school that was recruiting me and one I heavily considered playing for, so to play well on their field means a lot.There was a change of momentum at the half. As soon as we scored the equalizer, there was no doubt we could win.
UCLA played awesome. They are very strong in the air and physical. They definitely brought their game tonight.
UCLA Head Coach Jill Ellis
It was a well-fought game. We need to show more maturity, finish our chances and put teams away. We had a lot of opportunities we just didn't convert.The speed of play was very fast and I think it threw off our game and our players became frantic. We need to control the game at our temp and we're not seasoned yet at doing that.
We'll take this loss tonight if it means winning the national championship later in the season. We'll learn from this. It's always great to play against a top-10 opponent.