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DALLAS — Friday’s NCAA College Cup semifinal game was not one for the lighthearted. No. 3 seed UCLA and No. 2 seed Maryland battled it out in a physical contest dominated by defense that ended in a 2-1 victory for UCLA. The Bruins will play Sunday for the NCAA Division I title against Stanford. After a 7-1 victory over Penn State Dec. 7 allowed them to advance to the Final Four game, the Bruins had to earn their win over Maryland. “It was a tale of two halves,” UCLA head coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “In the first half, we played well but didn’t reward ourselves with a goal. In the second half, we didn’t play as well and came up with the winners.” UCLA dictated the tempo of the game right from the start, but Maryland’s stingy defense consistently halted UCLA runs just outside the penalty area. Despite controlling the pace of the game, the Bruins ended the first half with just four shots and no good scoring chances. UCLA's leading scorer, senior forward Tim Pierce, was ineffective in the first half, as was forward Matt Taylor, who was substituted for him in the 33rd minute. Maryland also took four shots in the first half, and had an excellent scoring chance in the 12th minute when a free kick was sent into the box and headed just wide by forward Clarence Goodson. Seven minutes later, Bruin goalie Zach Wells denied forward Nino Marcantonio a goal with a diving save. In the second half, UCLA lacked the fluidity that they displayed in the first half, and Maryland appeared to be taking control of the game. “I felt confident the entire second half,” Maryland forward Scott Buete said. “I think we focused the entire second half and played well.” But the momentum shifted drastically in the 75th minute. After a controversial no-call on a takedown in the box by the UCLA defense, the Bruins counter-punched and midfielder Adolfo Gregorio found a streaking Taylor on a right to left cross for a soft one-timer goal. “They were giving me a lot of space on the outside,” said Gregorio. “I looked to take my defender one-on-one and I know my forwards like to make far post runs, so I put it out there and fortunately (Taylor) was there.” Maryland head coach Sasho Cirovski was very animated in showing his disapproval of the no-call in the box, and was shown the red card for foul and abusive language toward the assistant referee following the goal. UCLA appeared to have stamped their ticket to the championship with Taylor’s goal, but Maryland midfielder Sumed Ibrahim answered in the 81st minute. He split two defenders coming across the box and beat Wells with a low left-footed shot. “Sometimes when a coach gets tossed, it brings a little more energy to the other team,” Fitzgerald said. “Their guys rallied around that.” Ibrahim agreed. “Once coach got kicked out of the game, the assistant coaches told me to go back in the game and make something happen,” he said. “I got an opportunity when I got in and made the most of it.” In a game marred by controversial officiating, the deciding goal came on a penalty kick by Adolfo Gregorio following a foul call on Maryland goalkeeper Noah Palmer. UCLA forward Cliff McKinley corralled the rebound off of a shot by Taylor and was clipped by Palmer as he dribbled toward the goal. “I thought I got my hand on the ball before his leg, but the referee didn’t see it that way,” Palmer said. Gregorio’s conversion of the penalty kick proved to be the deciding goal, and UCLA was able to celebrate a 2-1 win. Despite being very pleased with the win, UCLA saw several things that they need to improve on before Sunday’s championship match against Stanford. “One of our problems was with our forwards,” Gregorio said. “I’ve seen them play better. We also need to possess the ball more, like we did in the playoffs.” The UCLA defense was superb for 90 minutes, controlling the pace of the game and only allowing Maryland six shots on goal. The Terrapins' leading scorer, Abe Thompson, who has scored 14 times and assisted eight goals on the season, was handcuffed by the UCLA defense, limited to just one shot. “We watched Thompson on tape and knew that he was a big, strong forward,” UCLA defender Scot Thompson said. “Our team speed in back was enough to contain him so we weren’t too worried about him.” The Bruins also shut down midfielder Dominic Mediate, who had scored all but one Maryland goal in the tournament coming into Friday’s game. It was a very physical contest, and the two teams combined for 31 fouls, including 19 by UCLA. Each team was shown two yellow cards. “It was really physical out there,” McKinley said. “Being physical is one of my strong suits, it gets me into the game.” UCLA will spend Saturday resting and preparing for the championship game that kicks off at 1:30 p.m. PST. The team will be looking to make some adjustments that will help them translate solid play into goals, something they couldn’t do in the first half of Friday’s game. “You have to get goals in order to win, it doesn’t matter how smooth you are,” Fitzgerald said. I think we really need to improve and play better on Sunday.” Stanford defeated Creighton 2-1 on a goal by freshman Chad Marshall 118th minute. The Bruins have gotten the best of the Cardinal this year, owning a pair of 1-0 victories over their conference rival.

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