UCSD Men’s Soccer Team Hangs Tough to Win

It was a bully of a match, so it only seemed appropriate that the two biggest players on the field teamed to decide it: UC San Diego 1, Cal State San Bernardino 0.

After nearly 100 scoreless minutes in a tough overtime match, UCSD’s Chris Romey headed in a corner kick from Chris Hanssen to give UCSD (16-2-1) a victory in the men’s NCAA Division III first-round playoff match before 1,000 in La Jolla.

“I’m not supposed to even take (the corner kicks),” said Hanssen, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior. “Jarret Stevenson normally takes them, but he was out the game so I went ahead.”

Hanssen described the play as a “pile-up,” so he just “whacked it.” Romey, a 6-3, 205-pound sophomore, managed to find an opening and banged it in for his fourth goal of the year. Hanssen’s assist was his seventh, which leads the team.

UCSD advanced to the second round at 1 p.m. Sunday at home against against St. Thomas (Minn.), a 1-0 winner over Macalester. St. Thomas is 15-1-2.

The victory was particularly gratifying for Hanssen because he attended San Gorgonio High with eight San Bernardino players.

“They’re good at what they do,” San Bernardino Coach Carlos Juarez said. “They’re good at those crosses. We won 80% of the balls in the air today. Unfortunately, we let that one through.”

UCSD, which has won one national championship, has finished second once and third once in eight consecutive trips to the playoffs.

San Bernardino (14-6) was making only its second playoff appearance. The Coyotes finished third in 1987 after defeating UCSD in a first-round match on penalty kicks.

Thursday’s match appeared headed in that direction, too. Both teams had few legitimate opportunities as most of the action took place between the penalty boxes, and often it resulted in one or more players sprawled on the turf. Four yellow cards and 56 fouls were assessed during the 120-minute match.

“Very tough. They ruffled our feathers a little bit,” UCSD Coach Derek Armstrong said. “But that’s good-time soccer. That’s what the playoffs are all about.”

Said Romey, who entered the game as a substitute, “They’re the most physical team we played all year.”

Juarez and Coyote midfielder Anthony Rossi had similar statements about UCSD.

“We expected that kind of game,” Rossi said. “That’s the way UCSD plays. They’re big and they’re strong.”