A Matter of Time

Page 1: UCLA women’s soccer head coach Margueritte Aozasa smiles as her players dump a huge bucket of ice water over her from behind.

Caption: UCLA. Champions made here. The logo for the 2022 Women’s College Cup. Cary, NC.

Page 2: UCLA women’s soccer head coach Margueritte Aozasa watches as her Bruins take on the University of North Carolina in the final of the Women’s College Cup. The game clock shows 32:03 left in the second half.

Caption: In soccer, the clock never stops. Two halves, 45 minutes each, no timeouts. And when you’re deep into the second half without a single goal on the board, every second that ticks away feels like another lost opportunity. But UCLA women’s soccer coach Margueritte Aozasa has unbreakable faith in her Bruins. She believes victory is just …

Page 3: A UNC attacker loops the ball toward the goal from the sideline, over a UCLA defender. The game clock shows 31:54 left in the second half.

Caption: A Matter of Time. Story by Duane Swierczynski. Art by Eric Nguyen. Letters by Micah Myers.

Page 4: The UNC cross comes in from high over the heads of players into the 18-yard box. Tar Heels forward Avery Patterson connects with a header that rifles into the corner of the net for a goal. Game clock shows 31:52.

Caption: In Early December, the No. 1-seeded Bruins squared off against the No. 2-seeded UNC Tar Heels in the Women’s College Cup Final. Sound effect: THOK!! After a grueling stalemate, Tar Heels forward Avery Patterson turns things around with a single header.

Page 5: As the goal goes in, the scoreboard changes to UNC 1, UCLA 0, 31:50 left in the second half. UNC players rejoice after scoring the goal. Aozasa remains calm on the sidelines.

Caption: And UNC puts the first goal on the board. Coach Aozasa hopes her squad remembers everything they discussed when they first met all those months ago. Quote: I want to share my theory of game management.

Page 6: A flashback to January 2022 of Coach Aozasa and her players on the practice field. Back in the present the scoreboard shows UNC 1, UCLA 0 with 15:48 left to play in the second half.  Aozasa watches as North Carolina attacks. A UNC attacking header floats the ball over the Bruins goalkeeper.

Caption: January 2022. Quote continued: On the field, when there’s a change in game state — like, when we go down a goal … we need to ask ourselves — What tactical and stylistic adjustments need to be made? Now. Game clock shows 15:48 left in the second half. Quote: And why haven’t you done it already? But before any of those adjustments can be put into practice … Sound effect: WHOOOOOOOSH

Page 7: The scoreboard now displays UNC 2, UCLA 0, with 15:23 left to play in the second half. Patterson wheels away in celebration of her second goal of the night. Following the goal, the Bruins initially show disappointment before they gather themselves for the restart. Coach Aozasa watches with concern.

Caption: The Tar Heels score again. The Bruins are down 2 goals with barely 15 minutes left in the game. To their fans, it seems like an all is lost kind of moment. They’ve worked so hard all year … only to be shut out like this? But Coach Aozasa knows her players can come back from this. She saw their championship potential months ago …

Page 8: A flashback to three road matches early on in the season, each ending in victory. Then Aozasa sits in wonderment on the plane back to L.A., sharing the moment with her assistant coaches. Back in the present, the scoreboard shows UNC 2, UCLA 0 with 10:16 left in the second half. The Bruins attack the Tar Heels’ goal.

Caption: Coach Aozasa realized she had a championship-caliber team on her hands after watching her squad grind out three tough victories in a row. August 28. Santa Clara. 1 to 0. September 1. Duke. 2 to 1. September 4. UNC. 2 to 1. On the flight back home from North Carolina, Aozasa and her assistant coaches couldn’t believe their luck. Quote: Did that just happen? Did we just do that? — Margueritte Aozasa. Which is why, during halftime, the coach assured her team: quote: We’re going to get our chance. We’re going to score from a set piece tonight. The coach knows this is the Tar Heels’ Achilles’ heel.

Page 9: Bruins forward Lexi Wright takes a right-footed shot toward the UNC goal that evades diving Tar Heels keeper Emmie Allen and nestles into the corner of the goal. Wright celebrates, urging her teammates on with an emphatic gesture. The scoreboard now reads UNC 2, UCLA 1 with 10:14 left on the clock.

Caption: They’ve given up a majority of their goals on set pieces. Like this one. Quote: Let’s go! — UCLA forward Lexi Wright.

Page 10: Flashback to February 2022. Coach Aozasa gives a talk in the locker room. Back in the present, time is running out for the Bruins’ chances at a comeback. The scoreboard reads UNC 2, UCLA 1 with 25 seconds remaining in the match. UCLA defender Madelyn Desiano gathers the ball to set up for a corner kick from the right wing. She quickly gets the ball to Bruins midfielder Ally Lemos, who then launches a right-footed corner kick toward the penalty box.

Caption: February 2022. Quote: Soccer is fluid. You need to stop thinking like a player … and think like a coach. You can’t go step by step. It’s not black and white. — Coach Aozasa. At this desperate moment, defender Madelyn Desiano knows she has a coach-level decision to make. Take the final corner kick herself? Or give up the ball to a freshman midfielder who leads the team in assists? Taking the coach’s lesson to heart, Desiano knows what she must do. Get the ball to that midfielder — Ally Lemos.

Page 11: The scoreboard reads UNC 2, UCLA 1, 21 seconds left. As the corner kick flies closer toward the UNC goal, Bruins forward Reilyn Turner takes up a good position in the penalty box away from the bunch of players from both sides jockeying in front of the goal. The game clock ticks down to 19 seconds. The corner kick continues to move, curling closer to the UNC keeper. Turner makes her move, slipping between two Tar Heel defenders. The game clock now displays 18 seconds. Finally Turner, jumping for a header, makes contact with the ball from virtually under the crossbar, sandwiched between the two defenders.

Caption: Junior forward Reilyn Turner floats into the 6-yard box from the back post. 17 seconds… Sound effect: THOK!

Page 12: Turner lands on the ground. To her surprise, she looks up to find the ball has landed inside the UNC goal. The scoreboard now reads: UNC 2, UCLA 2, 16 seconds left in the second half. Turner celebrates with her teammates. The two teams head into overtime to determine a winner. The scoreboard reads UNC 2, UCLA 2, 2:25 left in the first period of overtime. With momentum on their side, UCLA pushes for a goal. The scoreboard shows the two teams still tied with 2:21 left in the first half of overtime. Wright puts a shot on goal that is blocked by UNC on the goal line.

Caption: Turner almost can’t believe her eyes. Goal! With 16 seconds left. The set piece worked! Now it’s overtime … and strangely, both teams are in the same situation they were in for the majority of the night … deadlocked. With 2:21 remaining in the first half of overtime, forward Lexi Wright goes for a tie-breaking goal … but it’s blocked.

Page 13: The scoreboard reads UNC 2, UCLA 2, 5:35 left in the second half of overtime. The Bruins are still pressing for a winner, putting UNC under pressure in their own penalty box. Once again, a promising UCLA attack ends when a shot is scrambled off the goal line by desperate Tar Heels defenders. UCLA graduate midfielder Maricarmen Reyes encourages graduate attacker Ally Cook with words from the coach as they run down the field. Cook emerges in attack and unleashes a powerful shot toward the UNC goal.

Caption: The same thing happens deep into second half of overtime. Quote: We’ve trained on this a million times. We can do this. Remember what the coach said! — Bruins midfielder Maricarmen Reyes. The coach is always telling them, quote: Just trust your preparation. UNC is known for outrunning you and outfighting you.

Page 14: The stadium floodlights pour onto the field as Coach Aozasa watches her team attack. Reyes sees Cook’s shot heading for the UNC goal. The Tar Heels goalkeeper leaps to save the shot, but only parries it toward a running Reyes. The UCLA midfielder then slides in, just inches away from the outstretched arms of the goalie, to tuck the loose ball into the opposition net. The scoreboard now reads: UNC 2, UCLA 3. 3:20 left to play in the second half of overtime. 

Caption: Quote continued: Okay — Fine. But last summer you all went on the road for three in a row, with many odds stacked against you. And you know what? You outfought them all. You don’t see that often. That’s special.”

Page 15: At the final whistle, the triumphant Bruins celebrate. The final scoreboard reads: UNC 2, UCLA 3, with the game clock zeroed out. The Bruin players shower their championship-winning first-year coach with a cooler full of ice water. Coach Aozasa smiles with surprise and satisfaction.

Caption: Tonight, for the first time in College Cup history, an NCAA squad has come back from two goals down to win the title. The Bruins are also the first team to win the championship with a first-year head coach. Coach Aozasa was right. It was all just A Matter of Time. End.