Aztecs Can’t Pass Bar, Are Defeated by UCLA

What San Diego State goalkeeper Bryan Finnerty did to keep his team alive Sunday, the crossbar did for UCLA.

Against the Bruins in the opening round of NCAA men’s soccer playoffs, Finnerty had two saves on penalty kicks, both of the spectacular, body-sacrificing sort, to keep the Aztecs’ hopes alive after two scoreless 15-minute overtime periods with the scored tied, 1-1, at El Camino College.

But two of SDSU’s five penalty kicks hit the crossbar and a third went sailing over the net to give the Bruins a 3-2 penalty-kick advantage and a 2-1 victory.

“I was sorry it had to come down to that,” Finnerty said. “We would have like to have seen another overtime after the two overtimes.”

SDSU was zero for zero in penalty-kick rounds this season, so they practiced, simulating game situations in case they would have occasion to use them.

But, said Aztec Coach Chuck Clegg, “It’s almost impossible in a 21-game season that you wouldn’t have any,” he said. “And you can’t practice game conditions.”

With the penalty kicks tied, 2-2, after three rounds, UCLA’s Tim Gallegos hit the back left corner of the net for the 3-2 lead. SDSU’s Ken Taylor then hit the crossbar, and on UCLA’s final try, Finnerty hurled himself lengthwise for his second penalty-kick save. On SDSU’s last attempt, Brad Walsh’s shot nicked the iron and shot straight down, along with the heads of the Aztecs who had been watching quietly from midfield.

“When it comes down to a crap shoot,” UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid said, “you hope someone upstairs looks down and smiles.”

UCLA and SDSU exchanged goals in the first half. The Bruins’ Mike Lapper was left unmarked at 26:00, and on an assist from Steve Black (a Poway graduate and San Diego Section 3-A player of the year in 1985), the Bruins led, 1-0.

“We tried to push the ball wide, clear some space and drop the ball in short for Lapper to get a half-step ahead,” Schmid said. “He had great service.”

With 43:31 left in the half, after an exchange in possession following a throw-in, SDSU’s Brian Craft-Negrete hammered a goal from 35 yards out to make it 1-1. Patrick Merrell got the assist.

Jeff Betts, SDSU’s leading scorer, made a valiant effort despite a heavy wrap on the left arm he broke Nov. 1. But Betts wasn’t as aggressive as he has been all season.

“It cut down on his effectiveness,” Schmid said. “Betts and (Marcello) Balboa are a cut above. (SDSU) is very dangerous because of them.”

Said Clegg: “Of course I’d want to play him without the injury.”

But Clegg said the Bruins, who advanced to play Portland, a 1-0 winner in overtime over Washington, were just better Sunday than they were on Oct. 11, when the Aztecs defeated them, 3-2, in overtime in San Diego.

“They were just technically better,” he said.