AZUSA, Calif. - UC San Diego and 14th-ranked rival Cal State L.A. played to a 1-1 draw in a first-round match of the 2014 NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championship Thursday night at the Cougar Soccer Complex on the campus of Azusa Pacific University, before the sixth-seeded Tritons were eliminated by the third-seeded Golden Eagles, 5-4, via penalty-kick tiebreaker.

Cal State L.A. moves on to face second-seeded and 20th-ranked host Azusa Pacific in the second round on Saturday night, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m.

With the official match result going down as a 1-1 tie, UCSD ended its 2014 campaign at 10-4-6. Cal State L.A. moved to 13-3-2. The Tritons had taken a 1-0 decision in Los Angeles in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener for both sides back on Sept. 26.

The Tritons were making a second successive NCAA Championship appearance for the first time in their Division II history.

The Golden Eagles were up 4-3 after the first four rounds of the tiebreaker, meaning UCSD needed a stop to stay alive. Junior goalkeeper Cameron McElfresh then made an incredible save, diving full-extension to his right to turn back Brett Elliott. Senior Matthew McClure stepped up and went into the upper left corner with his shot to tie things back up at 4-4.

Both sides saw their sixth-round attempts saved by the opposing goalie, with McElfresh going down to his left to smother Marvin Iskra’s offering, before Miguel Galvan Lara opened the seventh by scoring to the right. That meant UCSD sophomore Riley Harbour had to convert to extend the contest, but CSULA senior Mike Beigarten went to his right to make a third and decisive stop for the tiebreak.

Seniors Jacob Valadez and Brandon Bauman, and sophomore Sam Palano, were successful with the first three UCSD kicks of the shootout.

The contest’s first shot came from Cal State L.A.’s Abel Teferi, as he whipped a right-footer from distance in just the third minute, with McElfresh saving to a corner kick.

UCSD then had a good early chance to open the scoring in the ninth minute when Palano pounced on a loose ball on the right side of the penalty area and cracked a right-footed shot of his own that Beigarten parried away.

With just over 10 minutes left in the first half, Malek Bashti put his fellow sophomore strike partner Palano through on goal again down the right diagonal, but Beigarten was up to the task once more to slap the shot away and keep it scoreless.

Moments later, a clever heel flick by freshman substitute Uly de la Cal sent Bashti flying down the left wing, but his cross attempt was cleared away.

In the 43rd minute, Cal State L.A. came closest to breaking the deadlock, as Andre Bissmark hit a low right-footed shot from the top of the box that McElfresh got a hand to before it hit the left post and thankfully for the Tritons, stayed out.

A deflected long-distance effort by McClure led to UCSD’s first two corner kicks of the evening within the first three minutes of the second-half whistle, but nothing came of either of them.

The 62nd minute saw Galvan Lara unleash a right-footed blast from 25 yards that McElfresh had to leap to his left to knock away with considerable difficulty.

Cal State L.A. missed a chance to go ahead in the 75th minute when Jordan Payne threaded a delicate through ball for Marvin Iskra, whose shot was deflected to a corner kick.

Just seconds later off the ensuing corner kick, however, it was indeed 1-0 in favor of the Golden Eagles. Shane Panther found the ball around the penalty spot and tucked it home into the bottom right corner, with Joshua Cortez gaining credit for his second assist on the year. The goal was Panther’s second for 2014.

As UCSD looked for a tying score, Bauman’s free kick was headed by Charlie Keating, with the ball being deflected out for a corner. Moments later, Palano was denied a third time on the night by Beigarten.

With 3:58 left in regulation, the Tritons leveled the match. They earned their second penalty kick in as many matches against the Golden Eagles this season, this one after a CSULA player handled the ball in his own area. Bauman stepped up and coolly converted from the spot for his team-best sixth goal. He had also provided the lone penalty-kick tally late in the 1-0 win in Los Angeles.

Four yellow cards were doled out in a very contentious first 10-minute overtime, as well as a red card to the Cal State L.A. bench, but no goal was scored.

Cal State L.A. was nearest a winner in the second extra period, but Teferi was high of the target with his effort with about three minutes to play.

McElfresh matched his season and career high with six saves in goal for the Tritons in the lead-up to the tiebreaker. Beigarten had four stops for the Golden Eagles.

Cal State L.A. held a 7-3 advantage in shots in the first half, 5-0 for the overtimes, and 18-9 over the 110 minutes.

“This was a hard-fought game where both teams played really hard,” said UCSD head coach Jon Pascale. “The game had its ebbs and flows. It doesn’t surprise me that it ended in a tie and went to a shootout. Credit to Cal State L.A. You never want to end a season, but we can walk off the field knowing we gave everything we had.”

“We are proud of our group,” remarked CSULA head coach Chris Chamides. “(Tonight) was typical of a CCAA match-up. Full credit goes to UC San Diego. That’s a hard-working, classy group. In the end, this game could have gone either way. The goalkeeper did a good job and in the end things just fell our way.”

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