With 24 minutes left, Cal had it in the bag.
With 20 minutes left, it was UCSB’s game to win.
When all was said and done, the Gaucho men’s soccer season was washed away in the rain at Harder Stadium.
Andrew Wiedeman scored his second goal of the game in the game’s second overtime to lift the visiting Golden Bears (12-3-5) to a 3-2 win in the second round of the College Cup. The Gaucho season ended with the program’s first six-game winless stretch since 1998.
As has been the case for most of the season, it was shaky defense that got the Gauchos (10-7-5).
“We could never fix it. We haven’t been able to fix it and from time-to-time we’d play a little better, but we just were prone to making mistakes in the back,” said coach Tim Vom Steeg. “Tonight I really felt like we gave them two goals, and you just can’t do that in a playoff game.”
Davis Paul took an assist from Chris Deal and found the back of the net in the 22nd minute to put the Golden Bears up 1-0. UCSB’s Michael Boxall tried to pass a ball back to goalie Trond Helge Takset in the 60th minute and apparently didn’t see Wiedeman coming up on him. The Cal forward got the easy steal and rolled it right in to make it 2-0 with under 30 minutes to play.
But with youth comes resilience, and momentum came flying back the Gauchos’ way soon after.
“I have never doubted the fact that our group desperately wants to win and compete,” said Vom Steeg. “Our issue all season long has been very little about their desire or effort or energy… I think you have to have a resilient group when you give up as many goals as we do.”
Martin Hedevag put in a header off of a corner-kick assist by Michael Tetteh in the 67th minute, and Tetteh blasted a free kick past a 10-man Cal wall just over two minutes later, and all of a sudden it was tied.
“I thought it was our game at that point,” said Vom Steeg.
Some solid opportunities for each team followed, but the Gauchos had trouble converting with All-American Stefan Frei in goal. The Gauchos doubled Cal’s shot-total with 24, but Frei was up to the task.
“We knew going into this game that he was going to be the best keeper we’ve faced all year,” said Chris Pontius. “Big-time keepers make big-time saves, and he did that today.”
When Wiedeman ended it in the second overtime, the Gaucho players agonizingly fell to the wet turf.
For seniors Alfonso Motagalvan, Pontius and Nick Perera, it was the end of stellar college careers, which of course included a national-title season when they were sophomores.
Motagalvan was despondent in the post-game press-conference, but also imparted a senior’s wisdom.
“The coaches have helped us develop as players and more importantly as people, you know? The sports gives us life lessons, and that’s what we can take away,” he said.
