Heading home!
August 22, 2008 | 9:41 AMJillian Ellis
An unbelievable final capped an unbelievable Olympics! We beat Brazil last night in overtime to win the gold in front of 55,000 at Beijing Workers' Stadium. It was an amazing game and had two heavy weights slugging it out through 120mins of soccer. It was the best team defensive effort I have seen and our goalkeeper Hope Solo was spectacular.
Lauren Cheney did a tremendous job in the biggest game of her life. She worked tirelessly up front and was rewarded by helping create the game-winner in OT. I am so proud of her and all of her teammates!
Only when the Stars and Stripes was going up the flag pole did I really believe we had pulled it off. Brazil looked stunned and I am just amazed at how resilient our backline was at repelling Brazil's attack. It was one of the most exciting games I have ever been a part of.
After the game we went to the USOC USA house to join up with family and friends. It was a late night and I am going to sleep the whole way back to LA.
I want to take a moment and thank my assistants, BJ and Shannon, for running pre-season in my absence. They have been incredibly supportive and I would not have been able to take this journey without them. I am excited to be rejoining my team and ready to focus on the Bruins!
Ellis was an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning U.S. women's soccer team.
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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.