Tate Schmitt's overtime winner lifts men's soccer over UCLA • The Louisville Cardinal

By Jordan Shim-

The fourth-seeded men’s soccer team pulled out a 2-1 overtime victory over UCLA with goals by Jack Gayton and Tate Schmitt. The Cards advance to the third round of the NCAA tournament with the win.

It is all about winning and surviving, and today we did that against a very good team,” coach Ken Lolla said.

U of L quickly took the lead in the third minute with the first shot of the game. Tim Kubel swung in a cross from the right and found Gayton, who tapped it home from six yards.

“We knew that they struggled on wide services and restarts,” Lolla said. “We were excited to get those opportunities early, so doing that was great.”

In the 13th minute, Mohamed Thiaw was involved in a nasty head collision with a UCLA defender off of a corner kick. Thiaw walked off the pitch with the help of trainers. Thiaw did not return to the game.

“It was tactically hard for us because we had not talked about if Mo comes out and I move to forward, who steps in at right mid,” Schmitt said. “We had a conversation in the second half to figure everything out. But it was different not having Mo because he’s a very good defender.

Kubel continued to be the catalyst in the first half for the Cards. All of the chances were created by Kubel, who nearly tallied his second assist in the 37th minute. Kubel sent in a cross from a corner kick. Schmitt rose above two other Bruins defenders to head it down. The ball bounced and went over UCLA goalkeeper Kevin Silva, but he was able to tap it out for his defense to clear.

UCLA looked more dangerous after the break, generating five chances in the first ten minutes of the second half.

“I thought we didn’t start the second half as well as we should have,” Lolla said. “We allowed them time on the ball, and it pushed us back a little bit.”

The UCLA pressure broke Louisville, and they scored the equalizer in the 60th minute. Directly after Cleveland’s save, Kubel passed it back to Cleveland. Danladi charged as Cleveland attempted to clear. The ball hit off of Danladi and bounced into the net.

Scoreless over the next 30 minutes, Schmitt scored in the 94th minute to give Louisville the win. Daniel Johnson held onto the ball despite pressure from three UCLA defenders. Johnson passed out to Danny Reynolds who crossed into the box. The ball met Schmitt, who headed it to the right post.

“The cross was beautiful,” Schmitt said. “Couldn’t have asked for a better one. It sat right on my head.”

Despite the goal, Lolla was quick to credit Reynolds on the assist.

“To Danny’s credit, he’s been out a number of times this week continuing to work on his service,” Lolla said. “It was one of the areas that we felt for him, despite having a good left foot, his service hasn’t been so precise. I give him a lot of credit because he spent all week working on it.”

The Cards will host the third round of the NCAA tournament against 13th seed Notre Dame Nov. 27. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.