Dartmouth and Lucky Mkosana are a tournament surprise.

UC Santa Barbara is seeing red.

In what may have been the most emotionally driven match of the first two rounds, UC Santa Barbara suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to California and what ensued may end up costing the team more than the defeat.

Gaucho players Michael Tetteh, Danny Barrera and Machael David were all issued red cards following the game after they approached the referee with some points of contention.

Their discontent might be traced back to a controversial call in the 25th minute that saw Luis Silva pick up a red card on what some have deemed (and it really depends on who you talk to) a 50-50 ball. That left the Gauchos a man down for most of the match, yet they were still positioned to win after taking a 1-0 lead at 81:48.

Well, that was until a UCSB handball gave the Golden Bears a penalty kick in the 88th minute that tied the game. In overtime, Davis Paul notched the game-winner in the 99th, setting up a scene of raw emotions. Unfortunately, I have a feeling we’ll be hearing much more about this match, and what followed, down the line.

Top seeds: It didn’t happen as smoothly as we thought, but all of the bracket top seeds have advanced to the Round of 16. Most notably, North Carolina fought through a 0-0 tie with Georgetown before advancing in penalty kicks. Akron gave up two goals in the final ten minutes yet still prevailed over West Virginia(m) 3-2 while Louisville took a 1-1 tie into its final ten minutes before getting two late goals in a 3-1 win over College of Charleston. Only Maryland enjoyed a stress-free opening match, taking down Penn 4-0.

Surprises: The early head-turners of the tournament are a pair of Ivy League programs – Dartmouth, and Brown, which finished third and fourth in the conference respectively. Andrew Olson scored two goals including the game-winner in the 99th minute, and Dartmouth upset Notre Dame 2-1 in overtime Sunday after dispatching of Monmouth in the opening round 4-0. Meanwhile, Brown took out Boston College 2-1 in the first round, and then ended Connecticut in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw. Respect the Ivy League.     

Conference ranking: Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn’t. If nothing else it’s fun to track. Here are the conference leaders in terms of remaining teams:

Big Ten: 5
Pac -10, ACC, Conference USA, Ivy League: 2

Unlucky hero: Speaking of the Big Ten, Michigan State punched its ticket into the 16 by beating one of the only two undefeated teams in the country in Butler, 1-0 on Sunday. And the Spartans did it with a game-winning goal from Jeff Ricondo in the 84th minute. Ricondo had been out of action since he sustained an injury Oct. 17, but the senior came into the game and buried a 25-yarder like it was nothing. Turns out, it was everything.

Questions: Can Ohio State slow Louisville again? When the two teams met back on Sept. 22 it ended in a scoreless draw. That’s pretty noteworthy considering it’s the closest the Cardinals have come to a loss this season. We shall see what Round 2 holds.

Can youth trump experience? The UCLA(m) Bruins are like a bunch of child prodigies, while Dartmouth is a program made up of a core of upperclassmen. It will make for an interesting dynamic and an entertaining match.

Where’s the upset? One of the lower seeds will advance to the Elite Eight, but which one is anyone’s guess. Brown has to be taken seriously against Cal, while South Carolina will be a handful for Michigan. My guess is that Michigan State will knock out North Carolina in Sunday’s match. Believe it.

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