CARSON, Calif. — Experience triumphed over youth Friday night on college soccer's biggest stage. A veteran senior class led UCSB to a 5-0 win over Duke in the national semifinals. The feisty, young Blue Devils, who surprised many by reaching the College Cup, fell behind early and failed to figure out UCSB's defense.
CARSON, Calif. — Duke's Cinderella story came to a screeching halt Friday night when the men's soccer team, the only unseeded team to reach the Final Four, fell to ninth-seeded California Santa Barbara 5-0 in the semifinal game of the NCAA Tournament.
After only letting in one goal in their previous four College Cup games, the Blue Devils (18-6) allowed the Gauchos (21-2-1) to score in the first minute, something head coach John Rennie had hoped to avoid.
"We talked this whole week about the start of the game," Rennie said. "We wanted to come out strong physically to match their well known intensity at the beginning of a match and not commit any silly fouls and give them any easy chances."
But Duke did just that, committing a foul 20 seconds into the game. Blake Camp headed the free kick out, giving UCSB a corner kick from the right side. Gaucho Tony Lochhead sent the ball across the box where Drew McAthy, who drifted to the far post, headed it in 62 seconds into the game.
Despite being down after the early Gaucho goal, the Blue Devils managed to play well for much of the first half, outshooting UCSB 8-4. Duke answered the goal with five shots in the next 25 minutes, but three were stopped by Gaucho keeper Dan Kennedy, and the Blue Devils could not find the back of the net.
UCSB, while only getting off four shots in the first half, managed to put three on goal, the last of which pushed the Gauchos' lead to 2-0 in the 34th minute. Defender Lochhead charged up the field, received a pass and crossed the ball into the box, and UCSB attacker Jonathan Davis knocked in the team's second goal.
After the second goal, Rennie replaced the 5-foot-8 forwards Danny Kramer and Spencer Wadsworth with Matt White and Paul Dudley, two players more than 6-feet tall.
"We had trouble winning the first balls," Kramer said. "They're a big, physical team, and we knew that. We tried to match that as best as we could."
Size was not the Gauchos' only advantage, both coaches said. Rennie and UCSB head coach Vom Steeg agreed that the inexperience of Blue Devils, who start five freshmen, contributed to the inconsistency.
"I don't think they have probably come back in the games they've lost,” said Steeg, citing Duke's 17-1 record when scoring first. "That is a young team, and they will be very good for many years to come. But against [Duke], because they were young, scoring that first goal was really good."
Hoping to emulate the Gauchos' successful start in the second half, the Blue Devils saw their closest chance less than a minute after the break. Camp was granted a free kick right outside the 18-yard line, but Kennedy blocked his shot. Dudley gathered the rebound and crossed the ball in front of the net, but nobody was able to put it away.
The Blue Devils took numerous free kicks throughout the game, a result of 26 UCSB fouls, but a strong Gaucho defense anchored by Lochhead and Kennedy kept Duke scoreless. UCSB, on the other hand, took advantage of the Blue Devils' fouls, scoring its third goal off a free kick outside the 18-yard line. Lochhead took the shot and buried it into the bottom right of the goal.
With what was essentially a home field advantage, the Gauchos felt the presence of the crowd of 10,647. With a cheering section behind the goal, the fans even took their figurative shots at Duke goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge.
"Every time you make a good play, you've got the whole crowd behind you," Kennedy said. "Tonight, the crowd was right behind us, supporting us. It really worked to our advantage."
After two more goals scored in the 65th and 68th minutes by McAthy and Matt Bly, respectively, the Blue Devils realized their run was coming to an end. McAthy’s second goal was a textbook header off a cross from Bryan Byrne. Bly’s shot hit the top left shelf off a pass from Ivan Becerra.
"They did almost everything right on their scoring opportunities," Rennie said of a team that put 9-of-10 shots on net. "I think that comes from experience and being a strong team, as well."
Senior scorers McAthy, Lochhead and Bly are part of the class that reinvented the Gauchos' soccer program. Since its freshman season, the class contributed to the team in almost every game and led UCSB to its first NCAA semifinal and now, final appearance.
In its last game, the graduating class will face Indiana Sunday at 1 p.m. PST. The Hoosiers defeated Maryland Friday with a header in the last minute of the second overtime period. The Gauchos and the defending national champions have already met once this season, and UCSB took the match 1-0 in overtime. With the stakes much higher now, though, the two teams will battle for the National Championship.
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