CHAMPS REIGN

CARSON, Calif. -- Jay Nolly hasn't missed a single minute of a single game since October 2002. But in all that time, which encompassed a national championship, All-Big Ten selections and 30 shutouts, Nolly saved his best for last. \nWith IU leading 3-2 on penalty kicks against the University of California-Santa Barbara and the national championship on the line, the senior goalkeeper dove to his left, blocking the final kick and sent IU to its second straight national championship.\n"I don't know what else you can do, going out on top twice," Nolly said. "It's just an unbelievable feeling and especially to have your last play be a save to win a championship is just unbelievable."\nThe national championship game was a rematch from earlier in the season when UCSB defeated the Hoosiers 1-0, when Gaucho freshman Andy Iro scored the lone goal in the 105th minute in the second overtime. That match featured 19 total fouls for UCSB, with IU committing seven. \nJunior forward Mike Ambersley was the last shooter for the Hoosiers in the penalty kick situation. Ambersley's shot to the right side of the goal gave IU a 3-2 lead in penalty kicks with UCSB junior Nate Boyden the last shooter for the Gauchos yet to kick. Nolly saved Boyden's shot, ensuring Ambersley's shot would secure the repeat national title.\n"I noticed a lot of guys were going to the goalie's right side," Ambersley said. "I usually go to that side but at the last second I decided to go high and to the (goalie's left)."\nIU has now won national titles in 1982, 1983, 1988, 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2004. This is the first title for first-year head coach Mike Freitag as he took over the reins of the program from long-time coach Jerry Yeagley.\n"Our guys played like champions under tough conditions," Freitag said. "The crowd was for the Gauchos. All I know is we won our seventh national championship."\nUCSB senior goalkeeper Dan Kennedy played the entire game for the Gauchos in net, but UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said he replaced Kennedy with sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Reynish for the shootout because Reynish works better in penalty kick situations with his 6-foot-3 frame when the goals come at a shorter range of 12 yards.\nIU got on the board first in the match's 23rd minute when sophomore Jed Zayner chipped a ball from the middle of the Hoosier attacking half to fellow sophomore Jacob Peterson. Peterson had to stretch his leg to get a toe on the ball and over Kennedy, who had come out of his box to play the ball. The ball traveled over Kennedy and into the goal.\n"The keeper was out so I just tried to go over him," Peterson said. "I just saw him coming off his line. The coaches talked to me about how the keeper likes to come out early so I just tried to get it over."\nIU was less than 10 minutes away from victory when UCSB netted the equalizer in the 82nd minute.\nUCSB played a ball into the 18-yard box, which was then punched out by Nolly over a group of players in front of the goal. After the ball pinballed through the 18-yard box, Gaucho senior Drew McAthy gathered the loose ball in the middle of the box and put it into the goal, past Nolly who dove to his right.\nNeither team had any good opportunities in the first golden-goal period, but the Gauchos made Nolly and the IU defense work hard in the waining minutes as Iro headed the ball out of bounds in a shot attempt for UCSB. The Gauchos also had three corner kicks in the second golden-goal period as IU had zero chances in both overtime periods to convert off a corner.\nWhen the match moved to penalty kicks to decide the national title, IU sent junior Drew Moor, sophomore John Michael Hayden, senior Greg Badger and juniors Brian Plotkin and Ambersley. Moor and Plotkin were the only Hoosiers to miss their penalty kick try, while Hayden, Badger and Ambersley converted on their tries. McAthy opened up a 1-0 penalty kick lead for the Gauchos, but Ivan Becerra would score the only other penalty kick for UCSB, matching Badger's goal for the Hoosiers.\n-- Contact staff writer Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu.