Bruins’ Defeat Is a Long Time Coming, 3-2

What was expected to be a matchup of college’s top heavyweights turned out to be just that, as No. 3 UCLA and No. 2 Indiana exchanged blows for more than 141 minutes in a back-and-forth NCAA men’s soccer semifinal Friday night at Ericsson Stadium.

At the end, the Bruins were knocked out and Indiana had a 3-2 victory in four overtimes in what will go down as one of the greatest games in College Cup history.

The Hoosiers advance to Sunday’s final against Santa Clara, a 2-1 winner over Connecticut, also in four overtimes.

In the 142nd minute, Indiana freshman Pat Noonan had the ball with Ryan Futagaki defending him 20 yards in front of the goal. With footing a problem because of rain earlier in the day, Futagaki slipped, giving Noonan a chance to pass to sophomore Ryan Mack.

Mack took one dribble and blasted a shot to the right of and past a diving Nick Rimando for the game-winner.

“Mack made a great shot,” Rimando said. “He had two guys on him. He just happened to get the shot through [defender Ryan] Lee’s legs.”

The fact that the game ever got to overtime is testament to the resiliency of the Bruins (19-3). After a scoreless first half, the Hoosiers (20-3) got goals by Noonan in the 55th minute and Yuri Lavrinenko in the 75th for what appeared to be a safe lead for the top defensive team in the College Cup.

But Steve Shak’s header in the 77th minute off a corner kick by Shaun Tsakiris was the first goal given up by the Hoosiers in more than four games.

With momentum on their side, the Bruins tied it when Scot Thompson headed in a perfect crossing pass from Sasha Victorine in the 83rd minute.

“I never thought when we had a two-goal lead with 15 minutes left that we’d be looking at overtime,” Indiana Coach Jerry Yeagley said. “But that just shows you the talent and ability of UCLA.”

From there the Bruins carried the momentum into overtime, but both teams had plenty of chances in the next hour.

In the 98th minute, Rimando made a great save of a shot by Aleksey Korol. Korol was 12 yards out with nobody in front of him, but Rimando was able to deny him.

Near the end of the second overtime, UCLA’s Martin Bruno headed a shot toward the front of the net that beat goalkeeper T.J. Hannig. But All-American defender Nick Garcia was there to make a sliding save and clear it to the 18-yard line. Tsakiris was there and took a shot in the final seconds, but an Indiana defender kept it from reaching the net.

Freshman Tim Pierce, playing because cramps began plaguing so many players after more than two hours of soccer, came closest to ending the game for UCLA.

His crossing header from about eight yards out went over a leaping Hannig but hit the right post and deflected out. Four minutes later, Mack had a great look from 15 yards out. But again Rimando, who tied a career-high with six saves, answered the bell, diving right to make the save of the game.

“At the collegiate level, this is one of the hardest fought and most exciting games for people to watch,” said UCLA Coach Todd Saldana, whose team outshot Indiana, 20-18.

Between the two semifinals, there were more than 4 1/2 hours of soccer played. No semifinal had gone four overtimes before Friday.

In the first semifinal, Shawn Percell scored both goals for Santa Clara (16-3-3), which went into overtime for the sixth time in seven matches.