Men’s soccer loses to UConn in penalty kicks, drops out of NCAA tournament

The game almost had it all: long-range goals, shots cleared off the line, controversial calls, a big comeback, double overtime and sudden-death penalty kicks. The only thing missing was a happy ending for the Bruins.

The No. 1-seeded UCLA men’s soccer team was upset on Sunday night in the third round of the NCAA tournament, losing to the unseeded University of Connecticut Huskies 5-4 in penalty kicks after a 3-3 tie at the end of regulation and overtime.

After just 13 minutes of play it felt as if the match was headed for a blowout, as the Bruins found themselves up 2-0 following goals from freshman midfielder Felix Vobejda and junior midfielder Leo Stolz. At that point, there looked to be only one possible outcome.

“When we were up 2-0 we should’ve killed the game off,” said coach Jorge Salcedo. “I kept telling the guys to keep pushing forward, but at 2-0 it’s natural for us to sit back and drop in a bit.”

The urgency to score was gone, and the Bruins looked happy to go into the half with a two goal advantage. It cost them – the Huskies got a goal back with ten minutes left in the first half.

“We stopped playing, before (going up 2-0) we connected way more passes than they did and had more movement,” Stolz said. “Then they scored to get to 2-1, and we thought we could still get away with it but obviously we didn’t.”

Play between both teams became fast and frantic in the second half; the Huskies tied up the game with a long-range effort in the 58th minute, only to be answered by Stolz’s second goal of the game just three minutes later. Just when the Bruins were starting to set their minds on defending their slim lead, the Huskies tied it at 3-3 with 20 minutes to go.

From that point forward it was a pulsating battle with the two teams trading chances and possession. The Bruins cleared a shot off the goal line in the final moments of regulation, and a point blank header in overtime by junior midfielder Jordan Vale was amazingly saved by the Huskie keeper when half the stadium was ready to celebrate the golden goal.

In the end, it had to be decided by the dreaded lottery that is the penalty shootout. The Bruins had a one-shot advantage going into the fourth shooter, but Stolz – the Bruins’ top scorer and Pac-12 player of the year – blasted the ball over the bar.

“Leo is one of the main reasons we stayed in this game until the very end,” Vale said. “He should pick his head up, it was an unlucky penalty.”

As the fifth shot-taker, Vale stepped up under pressure to keep the Bruins alive and send the shootout to sudden death. After the Huskies had drilled their first sudden death penalty, Victor Munoz saw his shot down the center saved – and the Bruins’ season was over.

“It’s really frustrating with the way it finished, I’m really close to all the seniors and we wanted to go all the way,” Stolz said. “I think that’s the saddest part, that it’s just over and we don’t get to play with (the seniors) anymore.”

It is difficult to explain the crazy series of events that ultimately led to the Bruins’ demise, even for coach Salcedo.

“Up 2-0, up 3-2, with a great chance in overtime to end the game with Jordan Vale, and then in penalty kicks it looked like we were in control … you can’t quite put your finger on what happened tonight,” Salcedo said. “Tonight was about as cruel as it gets in terms of scenarios of us almost winning and almost having the game.”

In the end, Salcedo’s first national championship as the Bruins’ coach will have to wait.

“Only one team is happy at the end of the tournament, but this is brutal,” Salcedo said. “Being the No. 1 seed, going out in penalty kicks at home … it’s a tough pill to swallow.”