Friday, November 9, 2012

NCAA WEST REGIONALS (Nov. 8-10): Thursday (at Phoenix) - #6 Cal State L.A. 1, #3 Seattle Pacific  1 (CSLA won shootout 5-4). Thursday (at Hayward, CA) - #5 Cal State Stanislaus 3, #4 Notre Dame de Namur  2.  Saturday (at Phoenix) - Cal State L.A. vs. #2 Grand Canyon (15-2-1), 6 p.m.  Saturday (at Hayward, CA) - CSU Stanislaus vs. #1 Simon Fraser (16-1-1), 7 p.m.  (Note: Winners advance to West Regional title game on Thursday, Nov. 15).

PHOENIX, Ariz. - Dane Nielsen converted the decisive penalty kick in the fifth round of Thursday’s tiebreaker, helping sixth-seeded Cal State L.A. advance after a 1-1 tie at GCU Soccer Field that eliminated No. 3 seed Seattle Pacific from the NCAA Division II West Regional men's soccer tournament.

The Golden Eagles (11-4-4) won the shootout 5-4 to earn a regional semifinal meeting with No. 2 seed Grand Canyon on Saturday. Meanwhile in Hayward, Calif., Cal State Stanislaus eliminated Notre Dame de Namur 3-2 and will play Simon Fraser Saturday at 7 p.m. in a the other semifinal. 

Seattle Pacific, ranked 21st, was knocked out of the playoffs by CSULA for the second straight season following last year’s 3-2 setback in Seattle. They saw their 2012 season end with a 11-3-5 record.

Freshman Matt Merchant scored in the 42nd minute on a brilliant volley off a corner kick that put SPU ahead 1-0. The Eagles equalized just over three minutes later on a goal by Rosario Bras.

The teams battled through a scoreless second half and two 10-minute overtimes leading up to the tiebreaker. The first four players from both teams converted penalty kicks. Nielsen made his and that proved to be the winner when Anthony Mohammed hit the crossbar with SPU’s fifth attempt.

The Falcons nearly won it during the first overtime while putting constant pressure on the CSULA goal. They registered a 4-1 shot advantage during that 10-minute session.

Christopher Morris (Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island HS) had two near goals. His low 92nd-minute shot hit the left post and bounced away. Three minutes later, Morris struck a high shot that was barely tippedover the crossbar by goalkeeper Waleed Cassis.

Blaine Carver (Soldotna, Ak.) also had two near misses in the opening overtime. He scored an apparent game-winner in the 96th minute, but it was disallowed when the referee whistled for a foul after the play.

“We came out and got in right away,” Collings said of his team’s dominant performance during the first extra session. “Morris hit the post. Blaine finished and it got called back, I’m not sure what the call was.

“We had another chance I thought we should have finished when Blaine hit a volley and their keeper made a great save. I don’t know that you can ask for much more than that in a span of about seven minutes in overtime. We definitely had our chances tonight, that’s for sure.”

Merchant started the scoring with a spectacular first-timer off a corner kick from Corey McGuire (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River HS) that put SPU ahead 1-0. The cross came from the right corner to the far side where Merchant delivered a right-footed volley inside the left post from 15 yards at 40:29. That was Merchant’s (Portland, Ore.) third goal of the season.

“Big time goal. A great ball in from Corey and a fantastic full volley,” Collings exclaimed. “You dream about scoring goals like that. Matt has really exceeded what we could ever expect from a freshman and he was very, very good tonight.”

CSULA got the equalizer just over four minutes later on a 20-yard blast by Rosario Bras for his 10th goal. He was left unattended just outside the box long enough to send a shot into the lower right of goal, just past the outstretched arms of the diving SPU goalkeeper Zach Johnson. That score came at 44:38, just 22 seconds before halftime.

 “We played hard, we just made one mistake tonight and they punished us for it. That’s what good teams do,” Collings said. “All the credit to Cal State L.A. They played hard tonight and they didn’t make mistakes.”

Johnson (Snohomish, Wash./Snohomish HS) had one save for the Falcons, who were outshot 16-13. Just two of Cal’s shots were on goal in contrast to the eight shots SPU put on frame.

Cassis stopped seven shots, a few of them with stellar saves.

The teams battled through a scoreless second half and two 10-minute overtimes leading up to the tiebreaker. The first four players from both teams converted penalty kicks. Nielsen made his and that proved to be the winner when Anthony Mohammed hit the crossbar with SPU’s fifth attempt.

Johnson got a hand on two Eagles shots during the shootout, but not enough to prevent them from getting into the goal.

The tiebreaker result ended SPU’s season. It also ended the collegiate careers of 10 senior Falcons. They helped compile a 46-18-12 record during the past four seasons.

“They’ve won a lot of games, but more importantly the just kind of changed the culture of SPU soccer. I don’t know if you can ask for any more from a group of guys than what they’ve meant to me as a coach and to their fellow teammates as far as being mentors and leaders,” Collings concluded.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win a national championship, but I think they’ve won plenty of other championships off the field that will exceed any soccer game.”