DALLAS “”mdash; 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.