Indiana edges UCSB in soccer championship

Bryan Chu
Published: Monday, December 13, 2004

For the second time this season, it’s come down to this. First the women, now the men.

In yet another NCAA Championship game coming down to penalty kicks, No. 2 Indiana edged No. 9 UC Santa Barbara 3-2 after being tied one apiece in regulation. With the victory, Indiana has won back-to-back men’s soccer championships.

Tied at 2-2 in penalty kicks, in front of 13,601 people, the seventh largest crowd in NCAA history, Indiana’s junior forward Mike Ambersley put the Hoosiers ahead after a high and right shot went past the reach of UCSB keeper Kyle Reynish.

With the game on the line, Indiana senior goalie Jay Nolly dove and blocked Gaucho defender Tony Lochhead’s left side attempt, clinching the game for the Hoosiers.

“I don’t know what else you can do going out on top twice; it’s an unbelievable feeling ... especially to have your last play be a save to win the championship. It’s unbelievable,” said Nolly, who was named Defensive Most Outstanding Player.

The Hoosiers now have collected their seventh national title, second to Saint Louis’ 10. Indiana holds an NCAA record of 72 wins. The recent victory was especially significant since it was coach Mike Freitag’s first as head of the program.

Although Freitag was speechless and unemotional after the game, his players expressed what Freitag meant to the team this season.

“It’s the first of many and he’s a great coach,” senior midfielder Danny O’Rourke said. “And to fill coach (Jerry) Yeagley’s shoes is a big task, but for his first year, to come out with a national championship shows the type of coach he is.”

With almost the entire Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. rooting for UCSB, Indiana was able to faze the crowd out and get on the board first. Hoosier forward Jacob Peterson received a pass from sophomore Jed Zayner and connected on an eight-yard toe-pick into an empty left side of the net in the 26:23 mark.

“It was my mistake, there’s no two ways about it,” UCSB goalie Dan Kennedy said. “I got out of position and the guy got his toe on it and I got a finger on it. It was my fault.”

Having shut out its last three opponents and seven of its last nine, Indiana seemed comfortably on top, but after the Peterson goal in the first half, the Gauchos pressed offensively.

Down by one heading into the second period, UCSB’s offense had ample opportunities to score, getting six corner kicks and six shots in the second period. The offensive onslaught finally paid off in the 81st minute. Like a pinball machine, the Gauchos fired shot after shot. Nate Boyden’s initial shot was blocked from 15 yards away. Ivan Becerra was able to get a foot on it inside the box, but it was blocked yet again. But the rebound bounced out to senior forward Drew McCarthy just outside the box as he blasted the ball into the left side of the goal, tying the game 1-1 in regulation.

UCSB continued its aggressive play into both overtime periods, committing 26 fouls to Indiana’s 17. But the game came down to the third penalty kick situation for the third time in NCAA Championship history.