LA JOLLA, Calif. - Sam Palano equalized in the 68th minute and Nick Palano tapped in his identical twin brother's cross with just 101 ticks left in double overtime to lift the University of California San Diego men's soccer team past Azusa Pacific, 2-1, in the 2016 season opener for both NCAA Division II West Region rivals Thursday at Triton Soccer Stadium.
UC San Diego (1-0) and APU (0-1) were just 1:41 away from settling for a 1-1 draw, before the Palano connection occurred. It marked the first time in the fourth-year seniors' college careers, that they teamed up on a score.
Thursday's first half was a rather drab affair featuring a combined seven shots.
The action picked up early on in the second, however, as APU gained a free kick just outside the top of the penalty area. Caleb Calendaria stepped up and curled his right-footed effort inside the right post and past the goalie's reach at 47:43.
Sam Palano leveled matters at 67:29 with a right-footer of his own, into the bottom left corner, expertly picking the ball out of the air, with assists going to both Malek Bashti and Brett Sampiere.
With the seconds winding down in the second of two 10-minute, sudden-victory overtime periods, Sam Palano slipped in a short pass from the left, and Nick Palano was in the right place at the right time to poke the decider home.
Cameron McElfresh, beginning his third full season as the Tritons' starter in goal, made three saves. Fellow senior Tyler Jaramillo had three stops in the APU cage.
Matt Merrill finally made his much-anticipated college debut, starting in central midfield for UCSD after spending the 2014-15 academic year on campus without being on the roster, and missing the 2015 season while recovering from injury. True freshman Jonathan Stoop also drew his college debut, while redshirt junior Steven Ortiz earned his first minutes as a Triton after transferring from Cal State Fullerton.
UCSD continues a season-long five-match homestand this Saturday, Sept. 3, hosting Westmont in more non-conference action. Kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium is set for 5 p.m. The programs have not met since 1995.
Triton Notes: UC San Diego is now 12-3-2 in season openers in its NCAA Division II era, since 2000, and is an unbeaten 3-0-1 over the last four ... The all-time series is now even at 11-11-2 ... The contest marked the third straight year in which the teams faced off, with APU a 1-0 double-overtime victor in La Jolla in 2014, ahead of a 1-1 draw in Azusa a season ago ... Junior Triton forward Malek Bashti made his first appearance in a Triton uniform since Nov. 13, 2014, having redshirted the entire 2015 campaign while recovering from injury.
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