One cut, a second and suddenly junior Max Oldham had the space he needed. With the ball at his feet in the 18-yard box late into the first frame of golden goal overtime on Friday night against Santa Clara, the second-half substitute made the play of the game.
Fourteen yards out and an off-balance defender to his side, Oldham ripped a shot to the far post. At the opposite side of the net on the endline waited senior Alec Sundly. The forward stayed onside and tapped in the golden goal, ending the game in thrilling fashion.
“I was looking to bend it far post, but when you are that close to the goal, a shot is just as good as a cross, and luckily Alec was there to punch it in,” Oldham said. “It was going in, but he was there to make sure it would go in 100 percent.”
Sundly was credited with the goal and Oldham the assist, but it didn’t matter. The final scoreboard read 1-0 in favor of the Bears’ and both the crowd and Cal bench erupted in celebration as Sundly and Oldham mobbed each other.
In a game where the No. 1 Bears (6-0-1) just couldn’t seem to break down the Broncos’ defensive wall, all it took was a few huge plays by the Cal substitutes to keep the squads’ record and ranking unblemished.
After an uneventful first half, the game turned into a Cal-dominated affair in the second. Santa Clara’s sloppy play led to many turnovers in the Broncos’ defensive third. try as they could, the Bears could not capitalize on the opportunities.
“You have to give them credit, they were able to thwart our attacks,” said coach Kevin Grimes said.
Often Santa Clara (3-5-0) found themselves with eight of nine players behind the ball, closing up any gaps and frustrating the Cal forwards. While the Bears continued to pound away at the Broncos’ goal, the Cal defense found themselves with little to do.
Keeper Justin Tallole did not record a single save the entire game, and the Bears defense only yielded four shots in stark contrast to the Bears’ 14 chances. The only threat Cal had to face was the big throw-in ability of the Broncos defenders. Every time the ball went out in the Bears’ half, a Santa Clara player was able to lob the ball into the six-yard box from the sideline, effectively providing the equivalent of a corner kick.
“Any time a ball gets lofted inside your six from a throw-in, it’s always a potentially dangerous play, but our guys did a good job,” Grimes said.
As the buzzer sounded, freshman Christian Thierjung sailed a shot just over the bar, sending Cal’s third overtime game of the young season. It was the intermission between regular time and the extra session that would eventually tip the scales.
“We got a chance to regroup with that five-minute intermission,” Grimes said. “We just hadn’t scored, and we needed an extra this, that or the other to make the goal.”
The Bears came out creating chance after chance, keeping the Santa Clara defense in a constant state of desperation. Then Oldham and Sundly put the dagger through the Broncos, catapulting the Bears to another dramatic win.
Austin Crochetiere covers men’s soccer. Contact him at [email protected].