For the second time this season, it’s come down to this.
First the women, now the men.
In yet another NCAA Championship game coming down to penalty
kicks, No. 2 Indiana edged No. 9 UC Santa Barbara 3-2 after being
tied one apiece in regulation. With the victory, Indiana has won
back-to-back men’s soccer championships.
Tied at 2-2 in penalty kicks, in front of 13,601 people, the
seventh largest crowd in NCAA history, Indiana’s junior
forward Mike Ambersley put the Hoosiers ahead after a high and
right shot went past the reach of UCSB keeper Kyle Reynish.
With the game on the line, Indiana senior goalie Jay Nolly dove
and blocked Gaucho defender Tony Lochhead’s left side
attempt, clinching the game for the Hoosiers.
“I don’t know what else you can do going out on top
twice; it’s an unbelievable feeling … especially to have
your last play be a save to win the championship. It’s
unbelievable,” said Nolly, who was named Defensive Most
Outstanding Player.
The Hoosiers now have collected their seventh national title,
second to Saint Louis’ 10. Indiana holds an NCAA record of 72
wins. The recent victory was especially significant since it was
coach Mike Freitag’s first as head of the program.
Although Freitag was speechless and unemotional after the game,
his players expressed what Freitag meant to the team this
season.
“It’s the first of many and he’s a great
coach,” senior midfielder Danny O’Rourke said.
“And to fill coach (Jerry) Yeagley’s shoes is a big
task, but for his first year, to come out with a national
championship shows the type of coach he is.”
With almost the entire Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
rooting for UCSB, Indiana was able to faze the crowd out and get on
the board first. Hoosier forward Jacob Peterson received a pass
from sophomore Jed Zayner and connected on an eight-yard toe-pick
into an empty left side of the net in the 26:23 mark.
“It was my mistake, there’s no two ways about
it,” UCSB goalie Dan Kennedy said. “I got out of
position and the guy got his toe on it and I got a finger on it. It
was my fault.”
Having shut out its last three opponents and seven of its last
nine, Indiana seemed comfortably on top, but after the Peterson
goal in the first half, the Gauchos pressed offensively.
Down by one heading into the second period, UCSB’s offense
had ample opportunities to score, getting six corner kicks and six
shots in the second period. The offensive onslaught finally paid
off in the 81st minute. Like a pinball machine, the Gauchos fired
shot after shot. Nate Boyden’s initial shot was blocked from
15 yards away. Ivan Becerra was able to get a foot on it inside the
box, but it was blocked yet again. But the rebound bounced out to
senior forward Drew McCarthy just outside the box as he blasted the
ball into the left side of the goal, tying the game 1-1 in
regulation.
UCSB continued its aggressive play into both overtime periods,
committing 26 fouls to Indiana’s 17. But the game came down
to the third penalty kick situation for the third time in NCAA
Championship history.