 |  |
Brown and Dartmouth Men's Soccer Teams Edged In Sweet 16 Matches
Interactive 2010 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship Bracket
PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Brown and Dartmouth men’s soccer teams travelled west for a pair of NCAA Championship Sweet 16 matches on Sunday, with the teams looking to extend NCAA Championship runs versus Cal and UCLA, respectively. In the end, Brown fell at sixth-seeded Cal in Berkeley, Calif. by a score of 2-0, while Dartmouth lost in heartbreaking fashion as eighth-seeded UCLA scored a golden goal with eight seconds remaining in the second overtime to earn the win in Los Angeles, Calif. It marked the first time two Ivy League teams appeared in the final-16 since 1999.
Along with NCAA participants Penn and Princeton, Brown and Dartmouth helped create an historic year for the Ivy League in the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. Since 2001 when the NCAA Men’s Soccer Div. I Championship began playing under its current format of a 48-team field with the top-16 seeded teams receiving first round byes, the Ivies had not had two teams in the final-16 until Brown and Dartmouth both made the 2010 Sweet 16. Brown and Dartmouth each won two games this season, marking the first NCAA Championship since 1975 when Brown and Cornell each won two games before facing each other in the third round, where Brown downed Cornell 3-0. The Ivies also sent four teams to the NCAA Championship field for the second consecutive season, marking the first time since 1971-72 that four Ivies made the field in back-to-back seasons.
Dartmouth
Recap (Courtesy of Dartmouth Athletics
Communications)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- With just eight seconds
remaining in the second overtime period, Eder Arreola scored the
golden goal to allow host UCLA fend off the Dartmouth men’s
soccer team in the third round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday
evening. Arreola scored both Bruin goals in the contest — his
second and third of the season — allowing eighth-ranked UCLA
(16-4-1) to advance to the quarterfinals and move one step away
from playing in the College Cup. The Big Green, who had won six
straight including their first two games in the NCAA Tournament,
had their season come to an end with a record of 12-7-1.
The game seemed destined to end with penalty kicks until Dartmouth
deflected a ball out near its own bench with the clock winding down
in the second overtime. UCLA had plenty of time to get off one last
good run on goal, and Joe Sofia made sure he put a
good throw into the box. Amidst the Big Green’s mad scramble
to clear the ball, somehow Arreola got enough of the ball to send
it into the back of the net and bring a close to the exhilarating
game.
“We are very disappointed we aren’t the ones advancing
to the quarterfinals,” said Dartmouth head coach Jeff
Cook just minutes after the game. “This was a
terrific soccer game, and the players left everything on the field.
UCLA is as fine a team as we have played this year, and we proved
ourselves worthy of the challenge. I take great pride in how well
our team represented the program and the college.”
Both sides played at a fast pace throughout the game, and UCLA
would answer Dartmouth offensive maneuvers with quick
counterstrikes. The Big Green thought they had drawn first blood
early in the game when Walker Linares heaved a
throw-in caught a gust of wind and curled off the far post and into
the goal. Since no player had touched the ball before it crossed
the goal line, the goal was not allowed.
Although the Big Green controlled play in the first half, firing
off 10 shots to just five for UCLA, the Bruins were the ones
holding the 1-0 lead at the break. Arreola scored from the left
side of the box nearly 26 minutes into the clash on a missile to
the upper right of the goal after deft passes from Chandler
Hoffman and Reed Williams.
Shortly after Daniel Keat put a spectacular shot on goal with a
bicycle kick, only to have it stopped by Bruin keeper Brian
Rowe, Dartmouth evened the count in the 60th minute. Like
UCLA’s game-winner, the Big Green score came off a long
throw-in with Linares putting the play in motion. Keat headed the
ball toward the goal, and after it bounced once was put away by
Bryan Giudicelli.
The Bruins didn’t take long to get scoring opportunities,
putting a pair of solid shots on goal, only to have them rebuffed
by Dartmouth keeper Lyman Missimer. Several more
chances presented themselves to UCLA during regulation, but the Big
Green defense continued to thwart every one.
In the first overtime period, UCLA fired off two shots, one of
which came directly after Dartmouth coughed up the ball, causing a
roar to rise briefly from the crowd. But the celebration quickly
died down once it was realized that the shot hit the side of the
net outside the goal.
Both sides booted two shots in the second overtime, but it was the
Bruins’ second that proved to be the difference.
UCLA finished the game with a slight 20-18 advantage in shots with
six of those 20 going on goal. Missimer made four saves in goal for
the Big Green, while Rowe handled six saves on Dartmouth’s
seven shots on goal.
UCLA will play in the quarterfinals this weekend at top-seeded
Louisville (18-0-3) with the date and time still to be determined.
The winner of that game will advance to the College Cup in Santa
Barbara, Calif., on Dec. 10 and 12.
Brown
Recap (Courtesy of Brown Sports
Information)
BERKELEY, Calif. - The 2010 Brown University
men’s soccer season came to an end in Berkeley this afternoon
when No. 6 California defeated Brown 2-0 on Goldman Field during
the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bears finished the
season with a 12-4-4 overall record and made its 25th appearance in
the NCAA tournament, including its fifth in the last six years.
The game was a defensive battle, as goalkeepers Paul
Grandstrand and David Bingham, who
combined for 14 saves in today’s game, kept a flurry of shots
fired from both teams out of the net early on.
However, California was able to light up the scoreboard 29:47 into
the game and carry the momentum with them for the remainder of the
game. John Fitzpatrick, who led the Cal offense
with four shots, including three on goal, headed in a Davis
Paul corner kick to the high right corner of the net to
earn his sixth goal of the season and give Cal a 1-0 edge.
Brown sophomore Thomas McNamara nearly scored the
equalizer just three minutes after Cal’s goal when he blasted
a shot from the left side right inside the box, but the ball went
straight at Bingham who made the save in net.
Sophomore Austin Mandel followed with another
shot for Brown that was saved by Bingham, and junior forward
Sean Rosa snuck one by the Cal defense but sent
the ball sailing high and over the net with 22 minutes left in the
half.
California had a couple more chances, as Fitzpatrick tried another
header off a corner kick, but Grandstrand remained steady and
strong and earned the save. After a Cal foul with 16:46 remaining
in the first, junior Jay Hayward almost put in a
free kick in the high right corner of the net, but Bingham remained
to keep the Bears scoreless after the first 45 minutes.
Bingham recorded five saves in net in the first half, as
Grandstrand tallied four to keep the Bears within striking distance
entering the second half.
Cal came out after the half and took a few early shots toward the
net, but Brown’s back line shut down their chances and sent
the ball down the field. Soon after, two Cal strikers charged the
net as the ball bounced inside the goal box, and a defensive miscue
on the clear led to an own-goal at the 52:13 mark to increase
Cal’s lead to 2-0.
Rosa tallied his fourth shot of the game with 27 remaining in the
game when beat two Cal defenders, as well as the goalie, and sent a
shot toward an open net. However, Bingham recovered quickly and
came from behind and dove in front of the ball to make the
save.
The Bears could have easily become discouraged, especially after
freshman defender Eric Robertson was sidelined
after receiving his second yellow card of the game. Playing
shorthanded for the remaining 26 minutes, the Bears still continued
to penetrate the Cal defense, including two shots from T.J.
Popolizio and senior captain David Walls,
while keeping the Golden Bears off the scoreboard for the remainder
of the game.
