LOS ANGELES - Duke knew that it would have to catch lightning in a bottle to beat UCLA and advance to the NCAA tournament's national semifinals.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they ran into a team peaking at the perfect time.
The No. 1 Bruins outplayed No. 3 Duke throughout the quarterfinal contest, routing the Blue Devils 6-1 in Drake Stadium Saturday night to punch their sixth consecutive ticket to the final four. The loss ends Duke's season in the elite eight for the second consecutive year.
"We knew they were good-we knew they were very good-but I thought they really played on all cylinders tonight," Duke head coach Robbie Church said of UCLA.
And the Bruins showcased their dominance right from the opening kickoff.
UCLA (22-0-2) drew a free kick only 30 seconds into the match from right outside the box. And although they failed to convert then, the Bruins controlled possession and earned a corner kick just four minutes later.
On the corner, midfielder Kylie Wright kicked a left-footed in-swinger to the penalty spot, where McCall Zerboni knocked the ball in for a 1-0 lead. A Duke defender was in the net, but the ball had already crossed the plane of the goal before the clear.
The Blue Devils (15-6-3) managed to knot the score at one on a header from junior KayAnne Gummersall in the 15th minute, registering only the fifth goal against the Bruins all season. Senior Lorraine Quinn crossed a ball in from the left side directly onto Gummersall's head for the forward's 15th goal of the year. The strike put her in a tie for third on Duke's single-season scoring list.
But just one tally would not be enough to counter the offensive prowess of the Bruins, who overwhelmed the Blue Devils with superior athleticism and ball movement. They continued to press as they took 13 shots on goal in the first half. Already leading 2-1, Pac-10 player of the year Christina DiMartino delivered the dagger in the 44th minute with a beautiful strike from 30 yards out that went past goalkeeper Cassidy Powers into the upper left corner of the cage just minutes before the break.
"Nobody likes getting scored on right before going into halftime," Powers said. "It was a great shot, though, so I couldn't really let it get to me."
Duke attempted a tactical change by switching to a 4-4-2 in the second half to match UCLA's formation after playing a 4-3-3 for the first 45 minutes. But it was difficult for the Blue Devils to adapt on the fly, and as a result, they were indecisive in their attack.
"We just had to take some more chances," Church said. "But we just got very hesitant. We just were in between tonight.... Because of their ball movement and their movement off the ball, we just could not decide what to do. It seems like every decision we made was kind of the wrong decision. You have those nights."
"We tried everything we could," Powers said. "But they just kept scoring."
The Bruins took a three-goal advantage in the 59th minute off of another beautiful move from DiMartino that drew Powers out of position and created space for a goal from forward Kristina Larsen. UCLA proceeded to empty its bench, and as the Blue Devils threw more bodies forward in an effort to salvage their season, the Bruins found more openings to finish with six goals.
It was a disappointing finish to the careers of Powers, Quinn, senior captains Kelly McCann and Kelly Hathorn and defenders Sheila Kramer and Christie McDonald, who had never before allowed six goals in a game.
And it was another confirmation of Duke's status as an elite team not quite on the upper tier, as it flopped again against a top-ranked opponent. The Blue Devils faced three of the final four teams this season-UCLA, Notre Dame and North Carolina-and lost by a combined 10 goals in the three matches.
Nevertheless, it would have taken a miracle for Duke to stop the freight train that was the Bruins on a night when Church said they looked as good as anyone he has seen in a long time.
"There was something different about UCLA today," he said. "They're better than we are. I didn't expect them to be that much better."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.