NCAA SOCCER : Indiana Pays Back Titans in Playoffs

Cal State Fullerton fell just short of a second consecutive trip to the final four as Indiana prevailed, 2-1, Sunday in front of 2,716 at Bill Armstrong Stadium in the NCAA men’s soccer quarterfinals.

The Titans, who finished the season 14-7-2 after overcoming a series of injuries and other maladies, nearly surmounted a 2-0 second-half deficit. Freshman midfielder Martin Palos, who scored the Titans’ only goal at 67:07 off a Brad Wilson cross, had earlier fired a shot that caromed hard off the right goal post. Earlier, Indiana scored in the 52nd minute when Jeff Bannister’s cross deflected off Titan defender Peter Lak into the net to take a 1-0 lead.

The Hoosiers (22-2) never felt their lead was safe against the Titans, who were responsible for one of their losses this season, a 3-2 overtime defeat in the UCLA Classic on Oct. 28.

“I just told their coach and their team that they were the strongest opponent we faced all year--I can’t even say how many ranked teams we played (11),” Indiana Coach Jerry Yeagley said. “They have a lot of very talented players, in terms of technical ability, and also do a lot of great combination work.”

Titan Coach Al Mistri had similar sentiments about the Hoosiers. Before the match, Mistri said, “They’re the best team we met all year, by far, and possibly the best team in recent memory in terms of being complete--with talent from goalie to striking.

“The youngsters will take it hard, but I’m a little older and can look at it as the end of an excellent season.”

The Titans were facing more than just the Indiana players on the field in terms of intangibles too. The Hoosiers entered the match as the tournament’s top-seed team, with an all-time NCAA home-field record of 32-2. They also were seeking their 10th final four in 19 NCAA appearances over the last 22 seasons under Yeagley.

And, after a first half that was about as entertaining as scoreless soccer can be, the odds against a Titan upset lengthened considerably as the Hoosiers tallied twice in relatively short order after the intermission.

After Bannister’s goal at 51:08, Indiana scored again at 63:37. All-American midfielder Brian Maisonneuve sent a nifty slip-head toward the goal off a feed from Mike Clark. Indiana forward Craig Ginsberg beat a defender to chase down Maisonneuve’s pass on the right wing. Ginsberg drew Titan goalkeeper Justin Johnson to the near post, saw Indiana freshman Caleb Porter make a run into the box, and fed Porter for the point-blank score.

Fullerton nearly retaliated immediately as junior striker Matt Bradbury broke loose up the gut to get a one-on-one chance against Indiana goalkeeper Scott Coufal. But Coufal came off his line aggressively to smother the shot.

The Titans cut the deficit in half when Wilson hustled to save a ball that appeared headed over the end line and fed Palos.

“Brad looked up and saw me, but the ball went off a defender’s foot and I was really just in the right place at the right time,” Palos said.

It was the first goal allowed in the tournament by Indiana’s nation-leading defense, which held firm for the duration of the match.

The Titans played Indiana even-up, which is reflected in the final statistics. The Hoosiers had one more shot (13-12), the Titans one more corner kick (7-6), and each keeper made five saves.

Indiana will play UCLA, a 3-2 winner over the College of Charleston, in next week’s semifinals at Davidson, N.C.