Former Bruins lead USA, Canada, Australia to women's soccer Olympic semifinals
The Olympic wins keep rolling in for the former Bruins competing on the pitch.
All four athletes that have represented both UCLA women's soccer and their countries won this Friday, making their way to the semifinal stage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the process. Australian goalkeeper Teagan Micah, Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming, United States midfielder Sam Mewis and her teammate, center back Abby Dahlkemper all impacted their country's victories.
Micah showcased as Australia's starting goalkeeper against Great Britain. While she allowed a few goals in the 4-3 win, the full box score tells a different story on Micah's part.
The goalkeeper made seven saves for the Matildas in the quarterfinal match. With everything knotted up at 3-3 at the end of regulation, the match moved to extra time, where Micah kept her team alive and helped fuel their victory. In the 101st minute, Great Britain drew a penalty and Micah was put in the position to either save the spot-kick or go down by one.
The former Bruin dove to her right, preventing the British striker from scoring. Australia would later score and advance, thanks in no small part to Micah's save.
Fleming started in midfield for Canada against Brazil in the next match of the quarterfinal round. She played the entire match, eventually helping lead the Canucks to victory.
After a scoreless 90 minutes and extra time, the match moved to penalty kicks. After Canada missed the first penalty and Brazil converted the next, the midfielder stepped up to take her kick in a vital situation.
Whereas her former UCLA teammate Micah helped her squad advance thanks to a penalty save, Fleming pushed her team through by striking the ball into the bottom-right corner and tying the score of the penalty kicks 1-1.
Canada wound up securing the win, allowing Fleming and her teammates to survive to see another day in Japan.
Mewis, Dahlkemper and the United States also saw their game against the Netherlands go to penalties, but only after a back-and-forth affair through the entirety of regular time.
In the 28th minute, Mewis scored an equalizing goal to tie the match at 1-1. A cross into the center of the box met the head of the former 2014 espnW National Player of the Year as she guided the ball powerfully into the bottom-right corner. Mewis was then removed for a substitution in the 58th minute in exchange for budding star Rose Lavelle.
Dahlkemper had her moments in the match as well. She made several tackles in the defensive third against the aggressive and attacking Netherlands team. However, Dahlkemper's poor marking is partly to blame for the two conceded goals – the goals that led to extra time and that brought the match to penalty kicks.
Neither Mewis nor Dahlkemper took a penalty, so it was the Bruins' teammate Megan Rapinoe who converted the semifinal clinching goal and lifted Team USA one step closer towards gold.
In a matchup between former Bruins, the United States and Canada will face off Monday at 1 a.m. (PST), while Micah and Australia will play against Sweden later in the day at 4 a.m. (PST).
Follow Royer on Twitter at @thebenroyer
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins