NCAA Championship: UCLA takes on mighty UNC @supost.com

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Date: Fri, Dec 01, 2006, 08:00 AM

<div class=fright>W. SOCCER<hr>Today, 3:30 p.m. UNC Cary, N.C.</div>All the hard work by the UCLA women?s soccer team since its disappointing end to last season has finally led to this: a showdown with 18-time national champion North Carolina. The Bruins (21-3) will face off against the No.1-ranked Tar Heels (25-1) in the first national semifinal today at 3:30 p.m. It will be televised live on ESPN2. Notre Dame (24-0-1) and Florida State (18-3-4) will square off in the other semifinal match-up. Today?s winners will face off Sunday for the national title. ?We?re pleased to be back here (at the Final Four), but now we just have to win it,? coach Jill Ellis said. ?It?s that simple. We have to get the result (today) and then look beyond if we do that. The players realize what they have to do.? North Carolina is unquestionably the most storied program in the history of the sport, but don?t expect Ellis and her squad to be intimidated. If they were, they likely would not have made it this far. All season long, Ellis has said her players? belief in themselves has carried them through adversity to success. Now that they have reached the College Cup, that mind-set hasn?t changed. ?I told my players, ?You step on the field, and you?re playing 11 people. You?re not playing the people in the stands; you?re not playing the elements or the tradition. You?re playing the 11 people in the opposite jersey,?? Ellis said. ?If we can focus on what we?re capable of doing, everything else becomes a non-factor.? The tournament site at SAS Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., sits just 22 miles from Chapel Hill, where UNC is located. The close proximity should give the Tar Heels a decided home-field advantage. The weather forecast also calls for cold and wet conditions, a marked difference from sunny Southern California. UCLA has been stellar at home this season, going a perfect 16-0, but are just 4-3 on the road. The last time the Bruins played in the rain, they slogged through a split weekend, dropping a game to unranked Oregon before rebounding against Oregon State. Still, the Bruins have maintained the confidence that no matter the conditions today, they can come out on top against the favored Tar Heels. ?We want to win (the national title) for each other,? senior captain Bristyn Davis said. ?We?ve put so much hard work into this season. We want something to stand for it.? Despite the recent success of the UCLA program ? the Bruins are the only team to have reached the College Cup each of the past four seasons ? the team has yet to win a national championship. If they are to defy their recent history, Davis and her teammates will likely have to step up their defensive game in order to limit North Carolina?s offensive stars, who include Heather O?Reilly and Yael Averbuch. Both O?Reilly and Averbuch, as well as Notre Dame?s Kerri Hanks, are finalists for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy given to college soccer?s top player. ?I think that it?s important everybody plays defense,? Davis said. ?If everybody?s on the same page, talking to each other and communicating, that?s going to be very important for us to win.? Whatever the outcome of this weekend, however, Ellis has learned to maintain perspective. She knows a loss will not define her, her team or their season. ?Every year you get to this point and you want to do it, but I don?t think we?re failures if we don?t get it done,? Ellis said. ?Ninety-nine percent of the teams would give their right arm to get to this point. ?We?re here; we want to win. We?ve positioned ourselves to get to this point, and I think we?re capable of doing it.? EXTRA TIME: The Tar Heels have not lost since dropping their season opener to Texas A&M. ... Anson Dorrance is looking for his 800th career victory as soccer coach at UNC. Dorrance has coached the women?s team for 28 seasons, but was originally hired to coach the men?s team, which he led for 12 years. ... The Tar Heels are 20-2 all-time in NCAA semifinals. ... The Tar Heels are making their first College Cup appearance since 2003, when they won the title. ... UCLA is 0-5 all-time against North Carolina. ... The last time the Bruins played in Cary, back in 2004, they lost to Notre Dame in the final in a penalty-kick shootout. <a href='; target='_blank'>;