IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine and Grand Canyon battled through the NCAA First Round matchup Thursday night in Anteater Stadium settling for a 1-1 draw, and in the penalty shootout, the 'Eaters came out on top, 6-5, to move on to the Second Round.
UCI (11-5-4, 5-1-1) started the shootout roughly as its captain,
Daniel Crisostomo, was stopped on his shot by Grand Canyon keeper, George Tasouris. 'Eater keeper
Greg Patenaude would bring the sides back level stopping Marco Afonso's shot in the second round.
The sides traded makes for the next four rounds as attempt after attempt hit the back of the net despite admirable save attempts from either keeper.
Jalani Ambrose stepped up and buried his attempt catching Tasouris off guard. Patenaude would answer the call making the winning save in the seventh round denying GCU's (12-8-1, 6-4-0) Malik Smith to win the shootout.
"My teammates really put me in a great position by continuing to make them," lauded the fifth-year senior keeper. "I was excited, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't anything. I was stoked to come up big for them."
Patenaude and the 'Eaters needed a strong defensive effort all match along with a little luck to bounce back from its hole earlier in the match. After the sides were scoreless through 45 minutes, the Lopes were quick to strike as the second half began.
Driving up the left wing was Marios Andreou before cutting back inside and finding Bert Wilton. He would feed Jackson Jellah who found some space near the top of the box and whipped a shot off the diving keeper's mitts and inside the right post to start the scoring and put GCU on top, 1-0, in the 48th minute.
The Anteater attack lifted its game having just six shots and none on frame to that point. A corner kick, one of 12 on the night for the Anteaters, was cleared to
Ateno Ajeakwa, and he would wind up and fire toward goal into traffic. His low rising just was touched by a Lope defender and angled perfectly over Tasouris and tucked inside the far post to level the match, 1-1, in the 70th minute.
Both defenses regained its form as regulation ended and spilled into overtime. Both sides have magical chances in the first overtime period beginning with GCU in the first minute. After Pambos Aristotelous' shot was blocked, he gathered it and sent a cross right into the middle of the box, but Tosh Yasuda sent it just over the bar.
The 'Eaters came down with their best chance of the match in the 95th minute as
Christian Gutierrez beat the defender and drove the touchline. The ball found a way to the right side of the box to
Christian Bond-Flasza who tried to force a ball in near side, but the sliding George Tasouris made an excellent stop to keep the match going.
GCU answered with an equally impressive strike after a cross was deflected to the other side of the box. Josh Drack contorted to crush a half volley right at Patenaude who braced but kept the shot out, and the 1-1 deadlock moved forward and beyond overtime.
The Anteaters will advance with the result on to the NCAA Second Round, a place they will visit now in each of their six NCAA Tournament appearances to face a familiar foe in No. 9 National Seed Stanford.
"You get an opportunity to play in this tournament and they're as good as it gets," noted head coach Yossi Raz. "We like what we bring, we like the group we take to the Bay Area, we like our staff. We're going to be ready."
For Raz, he takes home his first postseason victory for the Anteaters, the fifth NCAA Tournament win in program history. Patenaude earned his first postseason victory as well stopping three shots in the process. Tasouris made one save and even converted a shot in the PK shootout, and GCU took home the shot advantage on the match, 13-10.
"I think people underestimate Grand Canyon," coach Raz said of the Lopes making their first tournament appearance at the Division I level. "They are a great institution with a great coach and great talented players recruited from all over the world. We knew exactly how talented they were coming into this game, and we devoted a lot of time to make sure that we prepared enough. Ultimately we prevailed and we are very happy and very excited."
The 'Eaters pushed through injury issues as well as starters
Luis Leon and
Ivan Canales were sidelined early in the first half missing a majority of the match. Ambrose, the deciding PK taker, suffered from cramps as well throughout the contest. UC Irvine has little time to recuperate as it heads up to Stanford for an NCAA Second Round matchup Sunday, Nov. 18, at 5:30 p.m.
Postmatch Quotes
NOTES: UCI now stands 1-0-1 in NCAA First Round matches...UCI's goal in the 70th minute ended a drought of 270 minutes without an Anteater goal while snapping GCU's streak of 321 minutes without allowing a goal...Thursday marked the first PK shootout win in program history after failing in two previous attempts (2014, 2018) in the Big West Tournament...UCI remains unbeaten lifetime against the Lopes (2-0-1)
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