Earl Edwards Jr. saved Warren Marshall’s penalty in the eighth round of a shootout to send No. 2 seed UCLA through to the NCAA Men’s College Cup after a 3-3 draw with North Carolina Saturday evening at Drake Stadium.
Carolina, which played more than 90 minutes with 10 men after a straight red, rallied from a 3-1 second-half deficit on goals by Tyler Engel and Andy Craven to force penalties. Omar Holness’ first-half free kick goal gave UNC a 1-0 lead before the Bruins scored three times in six minutes after halftime.
Carolina (15-5-2) had the upper hand in the early going before referee Alex Gorin showed Alex Olofson a straight red card after a challenge near midfield in the 20th minute. UCLA (13-4-5) benefitted from the extra man immediately, and Brendan Moore was forced into several saves from close range.
It appeared that the teams would head to halftime with no score, but Alan Winn won a free kick in a dangerous area on 40 minutes. With the opportunity to go for goal from the right side, Holness made no mistake with a low line drive into the bottom left corner to give Carolina an unexpected 1-0 lead.
The Bruins threatened early and often to open the second half, with Leo Stolz ringing a free kick off the woodwork in the 58th minute. The man advantage finally paid off in the 69th minute as Brian Iloski followed his own shot and converted from close range to make it 1-1.
Christian Chavez made it 2-1 just moments later, and Abu Danladi’s goal on the counter saw the Bruins go up two in the 74th minute.
But just as quickly as Carolina fell behind, the Tar Heels rallied. Engel capitalized on a goal mouth scramble after a corner kick in the 78th minute to make it 3-2 before Raby George’s inch-perfect through ball to Craven was turned home for the equalizer 24 seconds later.
It was an incredible turn of events, but it took more heroics from Moore to force the penalty shootout. The senior keeper stopped Andrew Tusaazemajja’s free header in the 95th minute before coming up big again after a corner late in the first period of overtime. After 10 more scoreless minutes, it was up to a shootout to decide the final team in the Men’s College Cup.
Moore saved Iloski’s effort to open the shootout before eight straight kickers converted, with George, Rob Lovejoy, Verneri Valimaa and David October finding the net for the Tar Heels. But Edwards saved Glen Long’s potential winner in the fifth round and then stopped Marshall in the eighth to send the Bruins through in dramatic fashion.
It was a bitter end to the careers of the UNC seniors, including captain Boyd Okwuonu, goal-scorers Engel and Craven, and standout goalkeeper Moore.
UCLA will face Providence in one of two national semifinal games next weekend in Cary, with Virginia and UMBC contesting the other College Cup contest.