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- NCAA Division I Women's Tournament schedule and results
- NCAA Division I Men's Tournament schedule and results Men's College Cup Gregorio's late penalty kick gives UCLA 2-1 semifinal win over Maryland.
DALLAS (Friday, December 13, 2002) -- Adolfo Gregorio's penalty kick with nine minutes remaining in regulation proved to be the difference for No. 7 UCLA which edged third-ranked Maryland 2-1 in a Men's College Cup semifinal before 7,025 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium tonight. The Bruins (17-3-3) advanced to meet Pac-10 rival Stanford in Sunday's championship match after the ninth-ranked Cardinal (18-4-2) slipped by No. 12 Creighton 2-1 on freshman defender Chad Marshall's deciding header late in sudden death of tonight's second match. UCLA, the NCAA champion in 1985, 1990 and 1997, recorded a pair of 1-0 victories over Stanford during league play in 2002, one in overtime. The Bruins have dominated the the series with the Cardinal 27-2-4. "It was a tale of two halves, said UCLA coach Tom Fitzgerald. "In the first half, we played well but didn't reward ourselves with a goal. In the second half, we didn't play as well and we came up with the winners. It was a very difficult match, as we thought it would be. Maryland was one of the most difficult opponents we played all year." One minute after junior midfielder Sumed Ibrahim tied the game at 1-1 for Maryland (20-5), a long-range Bruins' shot deflected off a defender to reserve junior striker Matt Taylor deep in the penalty area. Terrapins sophomore goalkeeper Noah Palmer came out to stop Taylor's point-blank shot with two arms over his head, but rebound went to UCLA junior forward Cliff McKinley who tried to dodge the Palmer to the keeper's right. Ten yards off his goal line, Palmer went down and got his right fingertips on the ball, but knocked Mickinley over with his left arm. "It was really physical out there." McKinley said. "Being physical is one of my strong suits. I like doing the dirty work." Referee Bob Martinez quickly whistled the foul and Gregorio calmly put the subsequent penalty kick low inside the left post as Palmer moved in the wrong direction for the 2-1 lead in the 81st minute. "I thought I got my hand on the ball before his leg, but the ref didn't see it that way and he got the penalty kick," Palmer said. Minutes earlier in the tight affair, it was a penalty kick that wasn't called against UCLA and a Bruins goal that Maryland coach Sasho Cirovski thought was offside that led to his ejection for abusive language. Cirovski had been warned by the officials on at least two earlier occasions for dissent. In the 75th minute, Terps sophomore striker Domenic Mediate received a deflected pass at the 18-year-line with his back to goal, spun 180 degrees into the box and became tangled with a defender as both players went down. Mediate jumped up screaming with several teammates also begging for a PK, but a call was not forthcoming. "I'm not at liberty to comment on the officiating," Cirovski said. "That is the job you guys in the media." A half minute later, UCLA led 1-0 with a sequence starting in its penalty area. After three passes, Gregorio began a zig-zag run from the center line that brought him two steps into the top right of the box before he cut a pass to four yards in front of the far post. Timing his approach perfectly, Taylor was there to drill the ball home to make it 1-0 at 74:44. "It happens in soccer all the time," Fitzgerald said. "A team that thought they were going to get something turns around and gives up a goal. It's great that we took advantage of the situation and got the goals when we did." Though Cirovski was gone, Maryland was not done. Six minutes later, Ibrahim received a pass in the right side of the box, cut laterally to his left, split two defenders and, facing the right post from about 12 yards, rocketed a left-footer into the far corner with UCLA junior keeper Zach Wells hardly having a chance to react. "Once Coach got kicked out of the game, the assistant coaches told me to go back in the game and make something happen," Ibrahim said. "I got an opportunity when I got in and made the most of it." The Bruins controlled play, attacking in numbers throughout the first half, but it was Maryland that had the best two scoring chances, both on set pieces, with one shot going inches wide and junior midfielder Nino Marcantonio drilling a 12-yarder at Wells. "One of our problems was with our forwards. I didn't think they played very well," Gregorio said. "I have seen them play better. We also need to possess it more, like we did during the playoffs. We're going to come with our top game Sunday." After intermission, it was the Terps that got the better of play until UCLA took its first lead. "We made some adjustments after the first half, and had some good opportunities in the second half," Cirovski said. "We put pressure on UCLA in the second half. Unfortunately, things didn't go our way." UCLA had six seniors on its roster, three of whom played in the 1999 national semifinal loss to Indiana. Maryland had no seniors. |
