The NCAA News - News and Features

December 22, 1997

UCLA's defense, late goals capture I men's soccer title

BY GARY T. BROWN
STAFF WRITER

RICHMOND, Virginia -- Virginia may have entered the Division I Men's Soccer Championship as the team of the 1990s, but UCLA staked a claim to the moniker with its 2-0 victory over the Cavaliers December 14.

It was the second title this decade for the Bruins, who have advanced three times to the national semifinals.

Virginia, 26-4-1 in the tournament since 1990 and winner of four consecutive crowns from 1991 to 1994, was making its second run in three years in Cavalier-friendly Richmond but was thwarted by a tenacious UCLA defense and two late goals by Bruins forward Seth George.

But the real hero may have been UCLA goalkeeper Matt Reis, fresh off a school-record 11 saves in the semifinals and the primary reason the Bruins were able to stave off what had been considered a dominant Virginia attack.

Outshot, 9-6, in the first half, UCLA (22-2) kept the game scoreless at the break because of seven saves from Reis, four of a spectacular nature at virtually point-blank range.

In the second half, UCLA gained the upper hand offensively and George converted two goals in a three-minute span to end the second-seeded Cavaliers' season at 19-4-3.

"We noticed (in the semifinals) that Virginia did not get the same production in the second half that they did in the first," said UCLA coach Sigi Schmid, who also engineered titles in 1985 and 1990. "Many people will think Virginia dominated the first half of our game because Reis made some great saves, but in the first period we didn't score because we didn't put our shots in the frame."

The shots worked in the second half. George was at the end of a nifty sequence that began at midfield when Josh Keller slid to gain possession and passed through a Virginia defender to Martin Bruno, who crossed to George about 12 yards in front of the net. A little more than two minutes later, George converted a rebound into an insurmountable lead with under 10 minutes to play.

"Bruno could have taken the first one himself," said George, who was named the tournament's most outstanding offensive player. "But I told him to hold it. He froze with it for a second and passed it to me. After that, I was left with a shot that just needed to be tapped in the net."

Reis kept the Cavaliers locked out down the stretch and was named the tournament's most outstanding defensive performer. The senior keeper allowed just one goal in five tournament games.

"Virginia had some good chances," Reis said. "As a matter of fact, they had some very dangerous chances. But my defense in front of the net stepped up. Sigi told me that if I kept the ball out of the net, we'd eventually score. If I kept them off the scoreboard, we couldn't lose."

Reis also was brilliant in the Bruins' 1-0, sudden-death overtime victory over Indiana in the semifinals.

The Hoosiers had entered the semifinals 23-0 but were dealt their first blemish by McKinley Tennyson Jr., an Indianapolis product heavily recruited by Indiana coach Jerry Yeagley but who chose to attend UCLA instead. Tennyson emerged from a scramble in front of the Indiana goal to net the game-winner 12 minutes into sudden-death overtime and prevent the Hoosiers from becoming the first team since Howard in 1974 to run the table for an entire season.

"This was the only time we've been shut out all year," Yeagley said. "We had times during the season when the breaks didn't go our way, but we had always found a way to win. Today we didn't. But remember, this team will go down as one of the great IU teams to take the field."

Virginia's 3-1 semifinal conquest over Saint Louis (16-5-4) was orchestrated primarily by all-America forward Ben Olsen, who scored a goal in each half, the latter of which gave the Cavaliers a commanding 3-0 lead late in the game.

Saint Louis converted a penalty kick moments after Olsen's second goal and had a chance at another several minutes later, but Virginia goalkeeper Brock Yetso dived to his left to preserve the Cavaliers' two-goal advantage.

"We were excellent in the attacking third," said Virginia coach George Gelnovatch. "We made (Saint Louis) pay for their mistakes, which was the key to the game for us. They are very organized and they get behind the ball very well. We knew we had to get at them quickly to have good chances."

The four semifinalists constituted a field worthy of acclaim. The combined tournament record for the foursome is 178-81-6 in 124 appearances, with 44 semifinal trips and 21 championships -- more than half of the 39 titles contested in the event's history.

The all-tournament team consisted of George, Reis, Keller and Tom Poltl from UCLA; Olsen, Scott Vermillion and Brian West from Virginia; Chris Klein and Aleksey Korol from Indiana; and Tim Leonard and Kevin Quigley from Saint Louis.

SEMIFINALS

UCLA -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- 1

Indiana -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Overtime: UC -- McKinley Tennyson Jr. (Ryan Lee), 131:27.

Shots: UCLA 17, Indiana 25. Goalkeeper saves: UCLA (Matt Reis) 11, Indiana (T. J. Hanning) 4. Corner kicks: UCLA 10, Indiana 7. Fouls: UCLA 21, Indiana 14. Attendance: 18,202.

St. Louis -- 0 -- 1 -- 1

Virginia -- 2 -- 1 -- 3

First half: V -- Ben Olsen (Brian West), 18:41; V -- West (Sam Franklin), 28:17.

Second half: V -- Olsen (Andriy Shapowal, Ryan Trout), 64:22; SL -- Tim Leonard (unassisted), 64:53.

Shots: St. Louis 14, Virginia 17. Goalkeeper saves: St. Louis (Casey Klipfel) 5, Virginia (Brock Yetso) 5. Corner kicks: St. Louis 10, Virginia 9. Fouls: St. Louis 16, Virginia 18. Attendance: 18,202.

CHAMPIONSHIP

UCLA -- 2 -- 2 -- 4

Virginia -- 1 -- 0 -- 1

Second half: UC -- Seth George (Martin Bruno, Josh Keller), 79:37; UC -- George (McKinley Tennyson Jr.), 81:57.

Shots: UCLA 14, Virginia 15. Goalkeeper saves: UCLA (Matt Reis) 9, Virginia (Brock Yetso) 1. Corner kicks: UCLA 3, Virginia 5. Fouls: UCLA 26, Virginia 12. Attendance: 20,143.