It will be the California Dreamin’ College Cup, as four teams east of the Mississippi River realized their dream of making the Final Four in Santa Barbara by winning their Elite Eight matches in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament on Saturday.
Top-seeded Louisville completed the dance card with a wild 5-4 victory over No. 8 UCLA in snowy Kentucky. The Bruins couldn’t hold a two-goal lead, and their defeat ended the last hope for a California team to play in state for the national championship.
Earlier, sixth-seeded Cal gave No. 3 Akron all it could handle before falling in a penalty-kick shootout, 3-2.
Tenth-seeded Michigan pulled the upset on Saturday, beating No. 2 Maryland 3-2 on Fabio Pereira’s goal in the third minute of the second overtime period in College Park, Md.
On Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C., fourth-seeded North Carolina defeated No. 5 SMU 4-2 in a penalty-kick shootout after the teams battled to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two 10 minute overtime periods. All three Tar Heel victories in the tournament have been won in shootouts.
The matchups for the national semifinals at Harder Stadium are Louisville (19-0-3) vs. North Carolina (17-3-3) and Akron (20-1-2) vs. Michigan (17-4-3). The kickoffs are scheduled at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Friday’s winners play for the national championship on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Of the four teams headed for Santa Barbara, North Carolina is the only one with a national title (2001). The Tar Heels are making their third straight appearance. They lost to Akron in a semifinal shootout last year and fell to Maryland in the 2008 final.
Akron is back for the second straight year and third time overall.
Michigan and Louisville are making their debuts at the College Cup. Louisville is guided by former Akron coach Ken Lolla.
Louisville’s Aaron Horton beat a host of UCLA defenders on the dribble and slipped a shot past charging goalkeeper Brian Rowe for the Cardinals’ game-winning goal at snowy Cardinals Soccer Park.
UCLA stunned the unbeaten Cardinals by scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes. Eder Arreola scored in the 8th minute and Kelyn Rowe finished in the 18th.
Colin Rolfe got the Cardinals back in the game in the 29th minute, but UCLA’s Chandler Hoffman responded four minutes later for a 3-1 lead.
Louisville got a big break in the 40th minute when it was awarded a penalty kick. Charlie Campbell converted to make it a one-goal game, 3-2, at halftime.
An energized Cardinals team scored consecutive goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half to take a 4-3 lead. Rolfe scored in the 48th minute and Nick DeLeon delivered in the 55th.
UCLA fought back, and Victor Chavez deflected a throw-in by Joe Sofia to knot the score at 4-4 in the 80th minute.
But the Bruins couldn’t knock the ball off Horton’s foot and the Louisville freshman delivered the biggest goal in program history.
In addition to the College Cup at Harder Stadium, a boys high school soccer showcase tournament and a youth tournament for U9-U14 club teams will be played at fields throughout the Santa Barbara area on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
