UCLA Makes Plays to Win Third Title

With a defensive strategy and senior goalkeeper Matt Reis making crucial saves, UCLA won its third NCAA men’s soccer championship Sunday, defeating Virginia, 2-0, before a pro-Cavalier crowd of 20,143 at University of Richmond Stadium.

Bruin junior Seth George scored in the 80th and 82nd minutes as the second-seeded Cavaliers pushed forward, first trying to break a scoreless tie and then desperately seeking an equalizing goal. Fifth-seeded UCLA (22-2) won its first national championship since 1990. Virginia (19-4-3) lost for the first time in six NCAA tournament final appearances. The Cavaliers tied Santa Clara in the 1989 final and won four consecutive titles from 1991 to 1994.

“The game was not any different than we thought it would be,” Virginia Coach George Gelnovatch said. “They had a game plan, stuck with it the whole way through and it worked.”

UCLA’s game plan--denying the Cavaliers room to work in the offensive third of the field--worked in the second half. In the first half, though, Reis kept the Bruins alive.

In the 13th minute, Virginia sophomore forward Brian West broke free on teammate Ben Olsen’s header, but Reis came out to block West’s 18-yard shot. Later, Reis dove backward to grab a shot by Virginia freshman midfielder Chris Albright just before it reached the goal line. And with five minutes left in the half, Olsen set up West for a 12-yard shot that Reis knocked away.

“We tried, we worked hard for the opportunities and [Reis] did well,” said Olsen, a junior forward who was held without a point for the first time in 12 games. Reis “should be the MVP of the tournament. He was definitely the most valuable player in the game.”

The Bruins’ defense tightened in the second half, but Olsen found a seam in the 53rd minute and sent freshman midfielder Jason Moore in alone on Reis. Reis charged off the goal line as Olsen made the 30-yard pass, and blocked Moore’s shot with a sliding tackle.

“I stacked the pads,” Reis said about the save. “My other favorite sport is hockey. The goaltender comes across and stacks his pads to make kind of a wall. It is something I’ve done my entire career. It’s just an effective way to tackle and make sure you win the ball.”

Reis gave up one goal in UCLA’s five NCAA tournament games, and had a career-high 11 saves in the Bruins’ 1-0 sudden-death victory over Indiana in the semifinals.

“Any time you see your keeper making a save like the ones Reis came up with, it just pumps you up,” UCLA senior midfielder Josh Keller said. “You just want to get one back for him, because he has been keeping you in the game, so that is what we did.”