Toreros eliminate UCLA in NCAA championships

  CHRIS BACKLEY McKinley Tennyson Jr.
tries to separate himself from a Washington defender in a game
earlier this season. USD defeated the Bruins last weekend.
NCAA First Round

USD 1
UCLA 0 (OT)

By Brian Thompson
Daily Bruin Reporter

SAN DIEGO “”mdash; Saturday night was UCLA’s season in a
nutshell.

As usual, the Bruins were well prepared. As usual, the Bruins
played exceptionally organized, good soccer. As usual, the Bruins
fought about as hard as a team can fight on the soccer field.

But also as usual, the ball just didn’t bounce the
Bruins’ way.

In their first round game of the NCAA Men’s Soccer
Championships at the University of San Diego on Saturday night, the
Bruins (12-7-0) were eliminated by the No. 4 seed Toreros (16-1-2)
on a heartbreaking goal in sudden-death overtime.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” Bruin
midfielder Shaun Tsakiris said. “We would’ve liked to
make a good run this year. We had good momentum going into the
playoffs. I really thought the way we played tonight we were going
to do it.”

Playing on a bitterly cold night in front of more than 4,000
rabid San Diego supporters at Torero Stadium, UCLA was the sharper
team for most of the game. The Toreros forced a very physical style
of game on the Bruins. There were a number of tough challenges
throughout the game, and the referee issued yellow cards on five
occasions.

But unlike some of its other games, UCLA responded well to the
physical style of play. In fact, the Bruins were dishing out just
as much punishment as they were taking.

Offensively, UCLA looked to the familiar combo of Tsakiris and
forward McKinley Tennyson Jr. for scoring. Tennyson, the
Bruins’ workhorse, seemed to win just about every ball sent
his way, even when San Diego put three and four defenders on him.
Tennyson registered eight of the Bruins’ 17 shots.

Tsakiris had UCLA’s two best scoring chances. In the 36th
minute, forward Cliff McKinley found Tsakiris rushing down the
field. He beat his defender and was tripped in the box, but no
penalty was called.

Later in the 57th minute, Tsakiris took a direct free kick from
just outside the box, but his attempt was just tipped over the bar
by Torero goalkeeper Justin Neerhof.

San Diego’s best chances came late in the contest. In
fact, the Toreros nearly won it in regulation. In the last minute,
San Diego forward Sy Reeves took a rocket of a shot that headed
into the top left corner of the net. But Bruin midfielder Caleb
Westbay, who was playing a step in front of the goal line, headed
the ball out of harms way.

In overtime, the Toreros controlled most of the tempo. Again,
they had the best scoring chances. San Diego forward Ryan Coiner
broke in alone against Bruin goalkeeper DJ Countess, but his shot
sailed high.

“You begin to question if it’s going to be your
night when balls like that don’t go in,” Torero head
coach Seamus McFadden said. “But one thing about this team,
they are a resilient bunch.”

And that resiliency paid off in the 101st minute. A cross was
sent into the middle of the box for Coiner. Two Bruins went to mark
him, but the ball sailed over the heads of all three. It fell to
the feet of midfielder Miguel Suazo, who promptly slid the ball
into the right side of the net to give San Diego the victory
““ and eliminate the Bruins in the process.

“I’m very proud of my team,” Bruin head coach
Todd Saldaña said. “I thought we played excellent
soccer. We had some great chances. But it was just typical that the
ball didn’t bounce for us like it hadn’t in a few games
for us, and typical for San Diego in that the ball has bounced well
for them this season.”