Men’s soccer loses championship shootout to ironclad Cavaliers

CARY, N.C. — The confetti poured down on Sunday afternoon, all sorts of red, white and blue glittering in the golden Carolina sun. But oddly, it fell nowhere near the winning team – the Virginia Cavaliers were cavorting on the field, celebrating their men’s soccer program’s seventh national championship.

Instead, the confetti rained down on the UCLA men’s soccer team, falling on the tearful Bruins, collapsed here and there on the grass.

After a postseason filled with comeback victories, after somehow finding a way to squeak through every match until now, the Bruins’ magic ran out in the title match, which ended 0-0 (4-2). Unable to break through Virginia’s defensive wall in regulation or overtime, the Bruins stumbled in the penalty shootout, two missed shots dooming their season to end in a penalty loss for the second year in a row.

“I think most people would say today we were the better team, but ultimately we didn’t find a way to score a goal (in regulation) – and that was our demise,” said coach Jorge Salcedo. “In the end, (the penalty shootout) is a crapshoot, and unfortunately it went their way.”

For a time, the shootout looked bound for another destination. With the score level at 1-1, redshirt senior goalkeeper Earl Edwards dove to his left and made a save that sent sophomore midfielder Gage Zerboni to the spot with a chance to put his team up.

Instead, his shot echoed off the crossbar. One shot later, sophomore midfielder Willie Raygoza was also denied by the crossbar, and all of a sudden the Bruins were in a two-shot hole – one that would soon consume them.

“After the save, my immediate thought was: ‘Job’s not done, gotta keep going to the next one,’” Edwards said. “And unfortunately, it didn’t go our way tonight.”

For 110 minutes, the match was there for the taking, as UCLA dominated possession and fired away against a Virginia team seemingly content to sit back and defend – a tactic known in soccer as “parking the bus.”

But even as the Cavaliers packed 11 men behind the ball – prompting Salcedo to remark after the match that it felt like there were two buses parked in front of goal – the Bruins had their chances. They just could not convert.

Junior forward Larry Ndjock – the semifinal hero – scuffed his shot from inside the penalty box in the first half. In overtime, freshman forward Abu Danladi’s ball went straight into the arms of the Virginia goalkeeper. Senior midfielder Leo Stolz missed several screamers by inches.

“We had decent chances, (though) I would say they were a lot of half-chances,” Stolz said. “We should have done better.”

So it went for the Bruins. And it was these missed opportunities that haunted the Bruins as they fell to their knees, heads in their hands, their worst nightmare standing before their stunned eyes.

After pulling rabbits out of their hats all tournament long, the Bruins’ hands came up empty when it mattered most.