USD Men Relish Comeback That Ties Third-Ranked UCLA

After 90 minutes of regulation and two 15-minute overtimes, the USD and UCLA soccer teams finished with a 3-3 tie Wednesday night at Torero Stadium.

But as far as USD (2-0-1) was concerned, this was a little like kissing Julia Roberts, and not just because UCLA (3-0-1) is ranked No. 3 nationally. The Toreros came back after UCLA also took an early, 2-0 lead.

“Yeah, I’m happy with the tie,” said Seamus McFadden, USD coach. “Actually it would have been a shame if either team lost, because both teams played so well.”

After an initial 10 minutes during which neither team could control the ball, UCLA changed tactics and began firing from long range. The result was what McFadden termed “two magical goals. UCLA won’t score two goals prettier than that all year.”

Both were unassisted. In the 11th minute, freshman midfielder Jorge Salcido put one into the upper-right corner from 40 yards past freshman goalie Tom Tate from USDHS.

In the 17th minute, sophomore midfielder Chris Henderson took a shot from an improbable angle, along the left sideline some 30 yards from the end line. That, too, found the upper-right corner.

“I thought we were going to be in for a long night at that point,” McFadden said.

UCLA Coach Sigi Schmid said those two quick goals actually led to his team’s downfall.

“I think those two quick goals really hurt us,” he said. “I think our players thought the game was going to be a little easier than it was.”

If they weren’t thinking that, they at least seemed to be thinking about the bus trip home. Suddenly, UCLA’s midfield disappeared, and USD was able to work the ball upfield and connect on passes in their attacking zone.

Paul Gelvezon put USD on the scoreboard in the 19th minute when he collected a centering pass from Leo Ronces, who was dribbling the ball along the right sideline. When Gelvezon got the pass from Ronces, he sidestepped one defender before letting go with a right-footer that got past freshman goalie Brad Friedel and into the left side.

In the 31st minute, the Toreros tied it when Paul Adair took a shot from atop the penalty box. It wasn’t a hard shot, and Friedel was moving slowly to his right to collect it when Phillip Button, a sophomore midfielder out of The Bishop’s School, redirected it to the left of Friedel and into the net.

With seven minutes left in the half, USD went ahead, 3-2, when Adair beat two defenders and centered to Gelvezon 10 yards in front of a wide-open goal.

UCLA tied it 22 minutes into the second half on a counter-attack. Coby Jones, dribbling down the left side, sent a centering pass to Henderson, who banged it in.