Monday, October 5, 1998
Bruins finally scare off Lions in suspenseful double
overtime
RECAP: Stalwart goaltending by Loyola Marymount, dubious
refereeing keeps UCLA on toes
By Moin Salahuddin
Daily Bruin Contributor
Confidence is one of the virtues that one attains after being
successful.
Winning the NCAA title last year gave the UCLA men’s soccer team
an abundance of confidence, and it has showed early this
season.
The second-ranked Bruins sported a 6-1 record going into play
Sunday against the struggling Lions of Loyola Marymount. While a
victory over the 3-6 Lions was merely an afterthought, UCLA found
itself in a position it hasn’t seen since their NCAA semifinal
victory over Indiana.
The game started with an explosion as both teams used their
offenses to subdue the other’s defense. The Bruins, who had stifled
their last five opponents with shutouts in each game, were in the
midst of a 481 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. But
that quickly ended as LMU scored in the third minute, only 2:38
into the game.
LMU midfielder Brad Myrand received a lob from defender Nick
Resich and blew it past UCLA’s goalkeeper Nick Rimando. That shot
ended a streak of nearly 450 minutes for Rimando versus the
opposition.
However, the Bruins responded as national caliber squads do.
Less than half a minute later, Seth George scored to even the match
1-1.
The explosion of offense was quickly extinguished, and the
defenses of both sides stepped up dramatically. At the end of
regulation, both squads remained in a 1-1 tie despite UCLA
outshooting the Lions 18-3.
This is where the maturity of a national title team comes into
play.
"I knew we were going to win," senior striker Seth George said.
"I mean it’s just like sophomore year when me and Martin Bruno did
that same thing every game. We would go in when the score was 1-1.
We would have to score a big goal and in the end, we always
did.
"We’re totally confident even though the clock was winding down,
we knew we were going to do it. It was a routine for us."
The match headed into the first sudden death overtime. Both
teams exchanged shots, with the Lions nearly taking the victory in
the 10th minute. But the overtime ended with the teams in a dead
heat and when play began to be more physical, several yellow cards
were handed out.
"I think the referee let a lot of things go today," head coach
Sigi Schmid said. "So it was a little more physical that way. But
that’s nothing we shouldn’t expect. USD played us very physically
with like 31 fouls. So that is something the teams and players are
going to do. I just think we didn’t play as well today."
The Bruins huddled up during the two-minute intermission between
overtimes and went over strategy.
"Basically we wanted to more pressure on their backs in
overtime," Schmid said. "Not allow them to serve as many balls
forward. We tried to stay a little bit fresher up front by playing
different pairs of forwards."
So UCLA picked up the tempo and nearly scored in the second
minute, but LMU goalkeeper Jerad Bailey stopped the scoring chance.
Bailey, a sophomore, finished the game with an incredible 13 saves,
which established a new school record for LMU.
"I thought we created chances, but we didn’t finish most of
them," Schmid said. "But their goalkeeper played well and kept them
in it. I didn’t think we played as well as we could. I think we can
play much better, and that’s something we have to work on now."
However, the Bruins kept the pressure on and despite many
questionable calls, scored the winning goal 8:52 into the second
overtime. Senior Junior Gonzalez, who was substituted in for the
second overtime, fed George, who launched a kick deep into the far
post.
Not playing George during the initial overtime proved to be one
of the crucial decisions for the Bruins.
George’s second goal of the game finalized the scoring at 2-1,
only minutes before a possible tie.
"We’re trying to save his legs for the second overtime if we
were to go into one," Schmid said. "Plus, we thought Sean Walker
and McKinley Tennyson, Jr. were fresh so we wanted them to come
in."
UCLA’s victory was due in large part to adjustments in both
their lineup and their mental approach to the game.
"Sigi told us the whole theory from last week was being able to
refocus," George said. "And that’s what our theory was for today. A
perfect example was missing all of those chances and just getting
back into our game and refocusing. We missed so many easy chances
today."
George and the rest of the Bruins proved Coach Sigi right on
Sunday.
aJAIME SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin
Midfielder Tom Poltl gets tripped defending the ball against LMU
Sunday.
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© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board