UCLA
Virginia
Men's Soccer Defeats Virginia, 2-0
December 04, 1999 | Men's Soccer
Dec. 4, 1999
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va - The Virginia Cavaliers and UCLA Bruins met one another for the second time this season on a beautiful fall afternoon at Klckner Stadium. The two teams faced one another earlier this season on October 31st in Westwood, California when the squads competed in the championship game of the Pacific Soccer Classic, which was hosted by UCLA. The Bruins came away with a 2-0 victory in that meeting. Virginia and UCLA locked horns once again this afternoon in a rematch with even higher stakes than what was played for in the regular season tournament. This time, the winner would advance to the College Cup in Charlotte, N.C. as one of four teams to participate in the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship. The losing team would have its season come to an end. In what was almost a mirror-image of the first meeting between these two teams just five weeks ago, UCLA came away with a 2-0 shutout victory over Virginia in front of 3,510 spectators in the quarterfinal match.
The Bruins did not waste any time asserting and offensive attack on the Cavaliers. Right from the start of the game, UCLA's offense weaved its way through UVa's defense and came away with two shots on goal. The first shot was pulled in for a save by Virginia goalkeeper David Comfort. The second shot resulted in a Bruin goal just 4:51 seconds into the match. UCLA's Nick Paneno and Shea Travis executed two good passes, one which was gathered by teammate Sasha Victorine upfield. Victorine collected the pass that was played through to him from Travis and fired a shot from about 15 yards out that found the back of the UVa goal at 4:51. Victorine's goal eventually became the game-winner score.
Each team recorded five shots on goal in the first half of play, but the Bruins defense would not loosen up. However, the Cavaliers looked as though they were going to tie the game at the 8:53 mark when UVa's window of opportunity opened. Virginia forward Ryan Gibbs charged upfield to play a pass that was sent ahead to him. UCLA goalkeeper Nick Rimando left the goal area and tried to make a play on the ball, but misplayed the roll. Gibbs gathered the loose ball, made a move and started towards the open goal but was taken down inside the box by Rimando. The foul resulted in a penalty kick for the Cavaliers. Virginia midfielder Steve Totten took the penalty kick for the Cavaliers and fired a shot to the lower right side of the goal. Rimando guessed which side to play the shot correctly, and dove to his left and made a spectacular save to preserve the Bruins 1-0 lead. UCLA would hold onto it's one goal lead and head into the locker room at the half ahead 1-0.
Trailing by a goal, Virginia tried to mount an offense attack of its own. But the Bruin defense would just not give up, as UCLA played a very detailed "bend but not break" defensive approach. Every time the Cavaliers would penetrate deep into the Bruins territory, UCLA would come up with another defensive stop. In the midst of their defensive hold, the Bruins also maintained an offensive balance which lead to UCLA's second goal of the contest. UCLA midfielder Shaun Tsakiris lofted a free kick towards the Virginia goal, where teammate Ryan Lee headed the ball into the net at 77:45 to make it a 2-0 Bruin lead. The Cavaliers could not answer in the final minutes, and UCLA held on for an exciting 2-0 victory.
The victory improves UCLA's record to 19-2-0 on the season, while the loss drops Virginia's record to 14-9-1 on the year. The win gives the Bruins a 4-1-0 mark all-time against the Cavaliers in the series meetings between the two schools. This was the first meeting between the two programs in Charlottesville.
UCLA will now travel to Ericsson Stadium to participate in the College Cup in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday, December 10th. The Bruins will meet the winner of the Penn State vs. Indiana contest which is scheduled for Sunday, December 5th in Bloomington, Indiana. The Cavaliers ended their successful '99 season with the loss.
Scoring Summary 1 2 F
UCLA 1 1 2
Virginia 0 0 0
Goals: UCLA 2 - Victorine @ 4:51, Lee @ 78:15, UVa 0.
Shots: UCLA 15, UVa 6.
Saves: UVa 9 - (Comfort 6, Singer 3), UCLA 4 - (Rimando 4).
Corner Kicks: UCLA 5, UVa 4.
Fouls: UCLA 22, UVa 21.
Offsides: UCLA 3, UVa 0.
Cautions: UCLA 2 - Lee and Paneno, UVa 1 - Prince.
Attendance: 3,510.
