Off to Shanghai
August 13, 2008 | 11:54 AMJillian Ellis
Last night was a great emotional boost! We beat New Zealand 4-0 and with Japan crushing Norway 5-1, we advanced in first place from our group.
The game started in dramatic style as Heather O'Reilly scored with a 30yd blast in the first minute of the game. The early goal definitely relaxed us and we put together our best game thus far.
After finding out the Norway - Japan score we were pretty excited to be heading to Shanghai for the quarterfinals.
This morning we boarded a small plane for a two hour flight. We travel with 60 pieces of team gear so most of our luggage gets shipped the night before. Our police escort and support personnel make getting around super efficient - they literally shut down the airport and freeways when we travel!
Our next opponent will be Canada. UCLA's Kara Lang is a striker for the Canucks and has had a big role in helping her team advance. Although losing to Sweden yesterday, Canada's earlier results against Argentina and China have helped them move on to the quarters. It will be great to see Kara and I am sure amid all the preparation, Lauren, Kara, and I will find some Bruin time!
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A blog by and about UCLA athletes, coaches, students and alumni at the Beijing Olympics
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Julie Chiu
Julie, who works with the media in Beijing, prepared for her third Olympics by studying Mandarin for two years.
Jessica Cosby
Jessica competes in the hammer throw for the U.S. Olympic team.
Andrea Duran
Andrea, Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2006, plays on the U.S. Olympic softball team.
Jillian Ellis
Jillian, head coach at UCLA, is an assistant coach for the U.S. women's soccer team.
Natalie Golda
Natalie, a UCLA alum, is a member of the U.S. water polo team.
Kimberly Kyan
Kimberly, UCLA '05, moved to Beijing on a whim two years ago and stayed for the Olympics.
Kara Lang
Kara, a student at UCLA, is a member of Canada's Olympic soccer team.
Nicolette Teo
Nicolette swims the breaststroke for the Singapore Olympic team.
Elizabeth Kivowitz Boatright-Simon
Liz is a senior media relations officer at UCLA. She is happy to be at home during the Olympics.
Kevin Roderick
Kevin is director of the UCLA Newsroom. He wishes he were in Beijing.