The landmark sports anthology television show “Wide World of Sports” would begin by telling viewers they would see athletes experience “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” Perhaps no sporting event provides such extreme feelings as a hard-fought soccer match that is tied at the end of regulation, goes into two overtime periods, and is decided by penalty kicks.
For men’s soccer head coach Ray Reid, Sunday’s NCAA quarterfinal match at sold out Joseph J. Morrone Stadium against UNC Charlotte was a déjà vu experience of the agony of defeat, as the 2011 season ended for Huskies in a game determined by penalty kicks for the third consecutive year.
Charlotte won the penalty shootout 4-2 after the Huskies missed their first two penalty shots. Further frustrating Reid was the fact that UConn scored the first goal of the game at 81:13, when senior forward Tony Cascio ’12 (CLAS) shot the ball past 49ers goalkeeper Klay Davis. The Huskies gave up a goal less than three minutes later, when a mishandled attempt to clear the ball in front of the UConn goal was pushed past Huskies goalkeeper Andre Blake ’15 (CLAS) by Charlotte’s leading scorer, Giuseppe Gentile. The game was tied 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
“We gave up a really bad restart goal,” Reid said. “I think Nick Blake tried to clear it. Somebody crossed it, somebody scored. We were asleep at the wheel. We had eight minutes to go to get the Final Four at home. You can’t let that happen.”
Gentile said he did not recall exactly what happened on the goal until his team celebrated the score.
“It went that fast. I saw the ball, when it left [Tyler Gibson’s] head and then our team celebrated,” he said. “The feeling was amazing.”
The two teams battled all over the pitch, with the physical pace of the game picking up in the second period, when six yellow cards were issued, three to each side.
“They were winning a lot of second balls,” Cascio said. “You could tell they wanted it a lot. They kept pushing and it was physical.”
The penalty kicks began after two scoreless overtime periods, with Charlotte taking the first shot, when Gibson scored. Mamadou Doudou Diouf ’14 (CLAS) missed the Huskies’ first shot, hitting the top of the goalpost, and Blake stopped a shot by the 49ers’ Evan James. Michael Mercado ’14 (ED) missed UConn’s second penalty kick wide, before Carlos Alvarez ’13 (CLAS) and Colin Bradley ’14 (CLAS) each scored for the Huskies. Then Donnie Smith and Isaac Cowles each scored for Charlotte.
With the penalty kicks at 3-2 in favor of Charlotte and one kick left for each team, Charles Rodriguez put the ball past Blake into the left corner of the goal, to win the match and send the 49ers to its second College Cup Final Four next weekend in Hoover, Ala., where they will face Creighton in one semifinal. In the other semifinal, North Carolina will face UCLA.
“From 12 yards, you’re not supposed to miss a PK,” Blake said. “You have different strategies to approach when you’re trying to save a PK. Once the kicker places the ball well enough, with enough pace, there’s no chance the goalie can get to it unless you move before he takes the kick. I didn’t move. I stood there and watched the ball.”
Charlotte head coach Jeremy Gunn credited the 49ers’ defensive effort for his team’s success in the postseason.
“All through the playoffs our team has done an unbelievable job of just being really tight and really dogged and determined defensively,” he said. “When you think of defending, sometimes you think of chasing and checking. I think the great part about our players is how composed they were defensively, because they’re coming up against very good players all of these rounds in the NCAAs.”
Reid said he was particularly disappointed with not reaching the Final Four – his primary objective for the team in 2011 – following a game determined by penalty kicks. He said he had gone so far as to have noted British sports psychologist Bill Beswick – who has consulted with England’s top soccer teams – work with the Huskies.
“We’ve been knocked out of four competitions in the last five years on penalties. I’ve tried everything known to mankind. I have no idea what to say,” Reid said. “It’s about handling pressure, really, is what it is. These guys worked hard all year, they really did. They grew up, were mature, made great strides. We lose Nick Blake [’12 (CLAS)] and Tony Cascio [to graduation], but we get everybody else back. We obviously have a lot of unfinished business with this group because we didn’t hit any of the goals we set for the team. Maybe this is the best way to learn with this group.”
