Women’s soccer comeback falls short against Stanford in national championship

It took UCLA four minutes in the second half to overcome a two-goal deficit against Stanford in Sunday’s NCAA women’s soccer championship game, but the Bruins couldn’t crack the Cardinal’s defense a final time.

The Cardinal won their school’s 114th national championship with a 3-2 victory over UCLA in Orlando, Fla., giving Stanford the most NCAA titles in the country.

Stanford (24-1-0) dominated the game with 15 shots to UCLA’s five, but the Bruins (19-3-3) erased a two-goal deficit in the second half with a penalty kick from Jessie Fleming in the 55th minute and a header from Delanie Sheehan off a corner kick in the 59th minute.

The Pac-12 champion Cardinal won on a curling long-distance shot from outside the 18-yard box from Jaye Boissiere in the 67th minute.

“I can’t say enough about our team and the fight and determination to come back and tie it up,” UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell told reporters. “(We) fought until the end, had some chances and in the end I don’t think we had enough in the tank to really force the issue that we usually do.”