FIRST HALF START: 9:05 P.M. PT/12:05 P.M. ET
1′ – First half begins.
2′ – Goal kick, UCLA and Earl Edwards, Jr. Can Larry Ndjock be the difference maker? Or will it be Leo Stolz, the Hermann Trophy finalist? Good possession early from the Bruins. Grady Howe now, the Galaxy Academy grad. Foul on the Bruins.
3′ – Scott Thomsen with possession. Now here’s Jake Rozhansky. Throw-in, Bruins.
4′ – Slow pace, given the cold conditions.
5′ – The back line of Virginia needs to be exposed for the Bruins to have an opening and attack.
6′ – The aforementioned Darius Madison with possession. Also worth watching: Nicko Corriveau. Hoos holding sway.
7′ – Corriveau concedes a throw to the Bruins, but they don’t make the most of that.
8′ – Gelnovatch watches on, looking for his second national championship as the Cavaliers’ gaffer.
9′ – Leo Stolz, and he nearly found Larry Ndjock. Darius Madison is held in check.
10′ – Throw-in, Bruins. UCLA are finding Virginia to be a bit tougher in the back.
11′ – Brian Iloski on the feast. Virginia recover and play it forward.
12′ – Back come UCLA. The Cavaliers need to apply ball pressure and press the issue, and they do so. Now here’s Abu Danladi. Todd Wharton with the sweep.
13′ – Earl Edwards, Jr. giving instructions to Stolz. Good leadership from San Diego’s finest. His father is the AD at UCSD and is perhaps watching this on TV, if not in person.
14′ – Calle Brown denies Abu Danladi. Back come UCLA.
15′ – Distance shot from Chase Gasper, the hero from Friday against Providence, although to be fair, that was an own goal on Brandon Adler.
16′ – Danladi is offsides. Throw-in, UCLA.
17′ – A shot from Andrew Tusaazemajja misses.
18′ – Cavaliers win a throw. Bruins are winning the possession but it’s not going to matter much if they aren’t smart with their shot selection.
19′ – Here’s some possession from Virginia, but Darius Madison is being left on an island, and this could be a stalemate.
20′ – Baseball-style chanting from the UCLA sidelines. Where’s the singing? The drumming? The insults?
21′ – UCLA just won a corner, it looks like.
22′ – Calle Brown collects. This is a battle of senior leaders in goal. Brown vs. Edwards.
23′ – Brown collects again. He is a man on a mission, Calle Brown, the pride of Leesburg, Va.
24′ – If you’re just joining us in this special Live Blog, you haven’t missed much. Defensive standoff at WakeMed today between Virginia and UCLA. It’s scoreless.
25′ – Felix Vobejda makes a meal of that. Goal kick, Brown.
26′ – Danladi wins a free kick. Brown asks his team to concentrate. The free. Edgar Contreras headed a poor ball from Iloski to Brown.
27′ – Madison caught in a square garden. Okay, that was a bad pun.
28′ – Bad puns aside, the Bruins have had an embarrassment of chances and they have not finished. Some changes could be in order for Jorge Salcedo.
29′ – Tusaazemajja’s shot is blocked by Sheldon Sullivan. Willie Raygoza and Christian Chavez will come in for Tusaazemajja and Ndjock.
30′ – The reinforcements from the Los Angeles Galaxy Academy are getting minutes. If I’m not mistaken, as we hit the half-hour mark, UCLA are a preseason opponent for the Galaxy. No wonder most of the Galaxy first team prefer UCLA to USC.
31′ – Calle Brown with another sweep. This goalkeeper may be SuperDraft material if keeps this up.
32′ – Patrick Foss comes in for Ryan Zinkhan and Riggs Lennon comes in for Madison.
33′ – I do agree with Taylor Twellman, the turnaround is too short because players are not at their peak.
34′ – Agreements aside, back come Scott Thomsen and the Cavs. UCLA recover. Thomsen wins the throw.
35′ – Pablo Aguilar may be looking for an opening on this set piece. But the shot hits the metal of the barricades and that is going to be a goal kick to Edwards.
36′ – Riggs Lennon has been quite the impact player for Virginia. He might be the spark plug Gelnovatch’s crew needs.
37′ – Salcedo looks on, a bit impatient and surprised by Virginia’s game plan today.
38′ – Danladi just got trucked by Kyler Sullivan. That’s a college football block right there.
39′ – Both teams do have American football counterparts. One is going bowling, the other, well, guess which is which. Brown collects.
40′ – Iloski is taking too much time to make shot. Costly.
41′ – Todd Wharton asking for simulation, he’s not gonna get it. Iloski wins the argument there. The free.kick from Leo Stolz, and the ensuing audible thud indicates…it’s a miss. Goal kick, Calle Brown.
42′ – Kyler Sullivan now. Leo Stolz concedes a free kick. Jake Rozhansky wins a dangerous set piece for the Wahoos.
43′ – Edwards collects. Rolled right into him. No Robert Green-style howlers yet from Earl Edwards, Jr.
44′ – Rozhansky with a shot and that’s good on the gridiron. Not so good here.
45′ – We should be looking at a scoreless first half here. Halftime, it is.
HALFTIME
UCLA Bruins 0
Virginia Cavaliers 0
Virginia
NAME NO POS MINS G A SH SOG YC RC
Pablo Aguilar 8 MF 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Matt Brown 3 D 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Calle Brown 18 GK 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nicko Corriveau 10 MF 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Darius Madison 9 F 31 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jake Rozhansky 17 MF 45 0 0 1 0 0 0
Kyler Sullivan 13 D 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sheldon Sullivan 31 D 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Scott Thomsen 6 D 45 0 0 1 0 0 0
Todd Wharton 7 MF 45 0 0 1 1 0 0
Ryan Zinkhan 21 MF 31 0 0 0 0 0 0
Patrick Foss 20 14 0 0 0 0 0 0
Riggs Lennon 12 14 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 0 0 3 1 0 0
Goals:
GOALIES MINS S GA
18 Calle Brown 45:00 1 0
TOTAL 45:00 1 0
Shots on Goal:
1
Shots:
3
Saves:
1
Corners:
0
Fouls:
4
Offsides:
0
UCLA
NAME NO POS MINS G A SH SOG YC RC
Michael Amick 3 D 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Edgar Contreras 30 MF 45 0 0 1 1 0 0
Abu Danladi 9 F 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Earl Edwards jr. 1 GK 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chase Gasper 15 D 45 0 0 1 0 0 0
Grady Howe 4 MF 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brian Iloski 18 MF 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Larry Ndjock 11 F 28 0 0 0 0 0 0
Leo Stolz 10 MF 45 0 0 1 0 0 0
Andrew Tusaazemajja 20 D 28 0 0 0 0 0 0
Felix Vobejda 7 D 45 0 0 0 0 0 0
Christian Chavez 16 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Willie Raygoza 8 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 0 0 3 1 0 0
Goals:
GOALIES MINS S GA
1 Earl Edwards jr. 45:00 1 0
TOTAL 45:00 1 0
Shots on Goal:
1
Shots:
3
Saves:
1
Corners:
1
Fouls:
9
Offsides:
1
And so, with 45 minutes of regulation time to play, both teams will be looking to push for the opener. It’s been a defensive standoff so far, with UCLA’s attack held at bay by a stout Virginia backline. Something’s gotta give, and the MLS Multiplex will keep you covered on what goes down.
This is the Live Blog between Virginia and UCLA, live from WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., the home of the 2014 College Cup. If you have any comments, thoughts, opinions on the contest, sound off on the comments below.