The NCAA Tournament second-round match between No. 2 UCLA and unseeded San Diego teetered precariously atop a knife’s edge as the minutes ticked away.
The clock passed 90 minutes tied 1-1, and sudden-death extra time began – but still neither team could prevail. UCLA had fallen behind in the first half and showed its resolve in clawing back, but the season lay in the balance. Then a dangerous diagonal ball found a San Diego head 4 yards from the Bruin goal.
The ball was bound for the net. The match was over, the season ended, any hope of a UCLA national title dead and gone. Then redshirt senior goalkeeper Earl Edwards fell to his right and made what he later called the biggest save of his life.
A rebound. A second shot, goal-bound. A second save by Edwards, keeping UCLA’s season alive.
That was all the Bruins needed. Five minutes later, in the 97th, freshman forward Abu Danladi zigzagged all the way down the right to the touchline and pulled the ball back across goal, and senior midfielder Leo Stolz’s left foot gave UCLA the 2-1 NCAA second-round victory.
“We played San Diego (on the road) earlier this year, and they beat us 1-0,” Danladi said. “Our coaches told us before the game about our record against them in the tournament – four losses out of seven games. Each and every one of us came out wanting to change that, and we came back and did it.”
Though the Bruins started the match strong, it was the Toreros who drew first blood, as sophomore defender Parker Price’s shot from the left side of the box clanged in off the post in the 20th.
And it was the Toreros who asked all the questions from there on in the first half. They double-teamed Danladi, disrupted Stolz’s passing channels and ravaged the Bruin left flank. Their counterattacks surged through the midfield, and their high-pressure style continually harried the Bruins. UCLA’s chances were few and far between.
“They scored their goal against the run of play, and some of the guys probably had a little hesitation, started wondering if things weren’t going to go our way” said coach Jorge Salcedo. “I’m so proud of how the guys responded in the second half.”
The introduction of junior forward Larry Ndjock after halftime changed the course of the game, his presence easing the pressure on Danladi and his ability with the ball allowing UCLA to maintain possession in dangerous areas.
Then, in the 55th minute, Stolz stepped up to take a free kick from 30 yards out. His strike curled out of the reach of the diving keeper and into the back of the net. Just like that the score was level. Game on.
Though the strike galvanized UCLA, which seemed poised to take control of the game after that, the Bruins couldn’t capitalize when they had the momentum. And as the game entered extra time, neither team seemed more likely to break through.
Then the visitors attacked. A goalie dove, making a heroic save, then another. A freshman pulled the ball back to a senior who guided it home. And the Bruins stormed the field, gallivanting around their talisman, their fans exultant as they made their way into the frigid night.
On to the next one.