The UCLA men’s soccer team’s senior leaders kept the Sacramento State Hornets at bay for nearly 75 minutes, but when adversity struck, it was a freshman who saved the day.
The Bruins defeated the Hornets 2-1 in a lightly-filled Drake Stadium on Sunday night on the wings of freshman forward Chandler Hoffman’s 80th minute goal that broke the deadlock and sent UCLA into the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“(Scoring the winning goal) was something I had envisioned over the last few days,” Hoffman said. “I stayed extra (in training this week) and worked on finishing, so when I got the chance today to put it in and win the game, it was by far the best experience I ever had.”
UCLA opened the scoring in the 31st minute when senior striker David Estrada was brought down in the penalty box and senior midfielder Kyle Nakazawa easily converted the spot kick.
Though the Bruins dominated the next half hour of play, they were unable to capitalize on their scoring chances.
“In the first half after the first 15 minutes we were pretty good,” UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo said. “We had a lot of possessions and a lot of shots, but in soccer you have to take your chances when you have them, and we didn’t do a great job in the first half with the chances that we had.”
In the 75th minute, with momentum clearly having swung in the Hornets’ favor, Sacramento State freshman striker Max Alvarez held the ball at the top right corner of UCLA’s box, froze UCLA junior defender Shawn Singh with a step-over dribble and blasted a shot over senior goalkeeper Brian Perk and into the top left corner of the goal.
The two sides nearly came to blows in the 73rd minute, after UCLA senior midfielder Michael Stephens was yellow carded for an altercation with a Hornet defender, one of the seven bookings in the match. Fewer than 30 seconds later, Sacramento State midfielder Ernesto Carranza and defender Matt Linenberger were booked for instigating another altercation.
“In a playoff game, there’s a lot on the line and a lot at stake,” Salcedo said. “We were fighting for things, they were fighting for things, and things got a little bit chippy but it was not a big deal.”
Barely five minutes after Alvarez equalized the score, Hoffman scored UCLA’s go-ahead goal. Sophomore striker Fernando Monge spotted Hoffman making a run towards the goal and sent him a low cross. Hoffman slid into the cross and poked the ball past Hornet sophomore goalkeeper Bryan Oliver for the score.
“Our guys showed a lot of character to score so quickly after they scored,” Salcedo said.
The Bruins will take on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos, who beat the Bruins 2-1 in the 2006 national championship, at Drake Stadium Sunday. Senior defender Sean Alvarado was a sophomore when the Bruins lost to UCSB in 2006.
“When we saw that there was a possibility of us playing UCSB, a lot of us were grinning (at the chance),” Alvarado said. “I know myself and all the other seniors are really looking forward to this game, and I know we are not going to let them come here and take control of us.”