With three minutes remaining in regulation, it was chaos in front of the Penn State net.
In the 88th minute, Cal junior midfielder Connor Hallisey put a shot on net, but the Penn State defense cleared the ball off the goal line.
Six seconds later, the scramble in the six-yard box produced another shot off the foot of Luis Fuentes. The 3,000-plus Nittany Lions fans in attendance could only gasp as the ball looked to be crossing the chalk.
But once again, Penn State somehow got a foot on the ball and survived the danger.
“Both Connor and Luis did everything they could to get a good shot off,” said head coach Kevin Grimes. “If the shots had been two or three feet one way or the other, it would have went in, but the defender made a nice play.”
Mere inches from taking the victory from one of the Big Ten’s best, Cal men’s soccer (3-0-1) fell just short. The game would go into overtime and end in a 1-1 draw, becoming the first blemish on the Bears’ perfect record.
For most of the game, the Bears looked to be on track for their fourth win. Cal scored early off the head of defender Steve Birnbaum in the 20th minute.
“Steve and several other of our guys are great in the air,” Grimes said. “If teams overcommit to Steve, we have two or three that can damage them. It’s a good weapon that we have that keeps opponents on their toes.”
Fuentes had an opportunity later in the first half off a screaming low cross by Hallisey, but his shot sailed just over the crossbar. Cal controlled the pace of play and outshot Penn State 15-11, but Cal keeper Justin Taillole did not register a single save, a stat that speaks to the harmless Nittany Lion shots.
The one and only ball Penn State (2-2-1) put on net found the mark in the 77th minute. A quick thrown-in caught the Bears flat-footed and led to a crossing pass. Great penetration in the box left Penn State’s Kyle MacDonald open, and the midfielder knotted the game up at 1-1 with a quick strike.
“We outplayed them, we scored first and we had a glorious chance to make it 2-0, but they earned a good goal to tie it,” Grimes said.
The late equalizer was the end of scoring in both the regulation and overtime periods.
Although Cal’s record is no longer perfect, the loss column remains at zero. Furthermore, the Bears took a lot home from the difficult away test, especially from a travel perspective.
Delays and baggage issues caused the trip from San Francisco to Pennsylvania to last 22 hours, starting the Bears off on the wrong foot. But at the end of the day, Cal finished with a tie and almost got out with a win.
“Considering that we were dealing with (travel problems) and we were able to have a lead up until the last 13 minutes game, it was a great performance with heavier fatigue than normal,” Grimes said. “To get a draw from the Big Ten champions on the road, nothing but positives come out of that.”
Austin Crochetiere covers men’s soccer. Contact him at [email protected].