No. 2 UCLA Stops No. 3 Notre Dame 8-3 in National Collegiate Club Fifth Place Game

Betsy O'Neill

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Adele Young (Jr., Long Beach, Calif.) scored three times to lead all scorers and guide No. 2 University of California-Los Angeles to an 8-3 victory over No. 3 University of Notre Dame in the fifth place game at the 2010 Women's National Collegiate Club Championship.

The finish marks an all-time best for the Bruins who previously placed sixth (2008) and ninth (2009) in two previous trips to the National Championship tournament.

UCLA never trailed in the game and opened up a 4-0 lead before the Fighting Irish's Christina Romano (Jr., River Forest, Ill.) broke the ice for Notre Dame with 4:26 remaining in the third period.

The margin continued to expand, however, as Desiree Wilson (Jr., La Verne, Calif.) buried an even-strength marker with 49 seconds remaining in the half and Sam Ellis (Jr., Sunnyvale, Calif.) chipped in a man-up goal to make it 6-1 through 21 minutes of play.

Michal Ross (So., Santa Cruz, Calif.) pushed the margin to 7-1 with 4:37 left in the fourth period and Young completed a hat-trick with 3:09 left in the period to make it 8-1.  Meghan Pearl (Sr., Cary, Ill.) pulled the Irish to within six at 8-2 with a tally at the 2:37 mark before Maisie O'Malley (So., Chicago, Ill.) pulled Notre Dame to within five and set the final score.

In cage, Bari Cappalletti (Fr., Danville, Calif.) and Amanda Gittleman (So., San Diego, Calif.) combined for six UCLA saves, while Betsy O'Neill (Sr., Danville, Calif.) recorded three saves for the Irish.

UCLA Goals: Adele Young (3); Sam Ellis (2); Michal Ross; Desiree Wilson; Erica Bonetti 

Notre Dame Goals: Maisie O'Malley; Meghan Pearl; Christina Romano

Saves: UCLA - Bari Cappalletti (4), Amanda Gittleman (2) ; Notre Dame - Betsy O'Neill (3)

Exclusions: UCLA - 10 ; Notre Dame - 5

Advantage Opportunities: UCLA - 2-for-5 ; Notre Dame - X-for-10

Sprints: UCLA - 2-for-4 ; Notre Dame - 2-for-4