UCLA
San Diego
No. 3 UCLA Defeats No. 12 San Diego 4-1 In NCAA Soccer First Round Game
November 21, 1999 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 21, 1999
Postgame Audio
- UCLA head coach Todd Saldana
- USD head coach Seamus McFadden
Westwood, Calif. - The third-ranked UCLA men's soccer team defeated 12th-ranked San Diego 4-1 this afternoon in front of a crowd of 1,551 at the North Athletic Field. Junior forward McKinley Tennyson, Jr. scored two second half goals for the Bruins.
UCLA's ability to strike while the iron was hot proved to be the difference in the game, as the Bruins scored a goal in the first four minutes of each half. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Futagaki opened the match with a goal at 3:44, scoring from six yards out, and Tennyson scored in the third minute of the second half for the game-winner.
After Futagaki's fourth-minute goal, which he followed up with his trademark karate kick celebration, San Diego tied up the game at 27:20, when forward Levi Parker passed the ball to forward Mike Marvil. Bruin defender Carlos Bocanegra slipped while defending the play, allowing Marvil to blow past him and score from 10 yards out past Bruin keeper Nick Rimando.
UCLA had a chance to equalize in the 40th minute, but Tennyson's one-on-one opportunity was lost when his shot went right to USD keeper Justin Neerhof. Tennyson had another chance three minutes later, but his shot was cleared out of the box by San Diego defender Garrett Turk.
Tennyson's persistence paid off early in the second half. With the game knotted at 1-1, he scored the game-winner at 47:20 from an assist by Shaun Tsakiris. Tennyson now leads the Bruins with 11 goals.
San Diego had another chance to tie in the 52nd minute, but a strong defensive effort by sweeper Steve Shak saved the day. With Rimando drawn out of the box, Torero midfielder Miguel Suazo blasted a shot towards the back of the net, but Shak headed it safely out of play to squelch that scoring opportunity. Five minutes after that, in the 57th minute, a perfectly-placed Tsakiris free kick found Bocanegra by the post, and the Bruin defender leaped high to head it strong into the back of the net to give the Bruins a 3-1 lead. The goal came in Bocanegra's first start since an injury to his knee in October, which kept him out of eight games.
"It was fun to be back, and I was excited to be back with my teammates," Bocanegra said. "On the goal, I got kind of lucky. Shaun found me with a great pass."
The Bruins put the game away in the 61st minute when Tennyson burst through San Diego's defensive line to receive a through-ball from Pete Vagenas. Tennyson beat Neerhof with a shot from 10 yards out.
UCLA outshot USD 12-8 in the contest. Rimando and Neerhof each had two saves, and Bruin reserve keeper Kevin Perrault had one in his 14 minutes of play.
"We're all a little bit relieved," said UCLA head coach Todd Salda?a. "Any time you go up against a team from Southern California, a team who has won a conference championship, you're going to be facing a strong team, and we stepped up to the challenge."
The 4-1 win was UCLA's biggest in an NCAA Tournament game since a 5-0 second round victory over Washington in 1972.
UCLA (17-2-0) will next face third-seeded Saint Louis in the second round. The game will likely be played at Saint Louis on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 1:00 pm CT. Saint Louis came from behind to defeat Illinois-Chicago 3-2 in the first round.
Game Summary - USD at UCLA 1st 2nd F USD (14-4-0) 1 0 1 UCLA (17-2-0) 1 3 4Shots - USD 8, UCLA 12 Corner Kicks - USD 8, UCLA 2 Saves - USD 2, UCLA 3 Fouls - USD 15, UCLA 12 Offsides - USD 0, UCLA 7 Cautions - Erin O'Connor (USD), 68:03, Ryan Futagaki (UCLA), 80:20 Attendance - 1551
Scoring Summary Team Goal by Assist Time UCLA Ryan Futagaki Nick Paneno, Pete Vagenas 3:44 USD Mike Marvil Levi Parker 27:20 UCLA McKinley Tennyson, Jr. Shaun Tsakiris 47:20 UCLA Carlos Bocanegra Shaun Tsakiris 56:25 UCLA McKinley Tennyson, Jr. Pete Vagenas 60:14
Additional Quotes UCLA head coach Todd Salda?a: "After halftime we made an attitude adjustment and we started strong, played simple. We needed to remind each other that this is a do-or-die situation and not to save anything for later in the game."
"They (USD) were dangerous up front and gave us a lot of challenges. I think we made an effort to focus more on our game going into today."
USD head coach Seamus McFadden: "Obviously, we're disappointed. I think our team is a much better team than we showed today. But you have to give UCLA credit. They were quicker and we were a bit sluggish. I felt this team could have had a legitimate chance to be successful today but I guess the soccer gods weren't with us today."
USD Midfielder Norman Gireaux: "They came out on fire and got the first goal quickly, but I don't think our team thought that we were out of it after that."
