By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
The season is only eight games old, but crunch time has already
arrived for the 13th-ranked UCLA men’s soccer team.
This weekend, the Bruins open league play in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation with games against Santa Barbara and San
Diego State. With a 5-3 record, and with all three losses coming
against regional teams also competing for NCAA tournament bids, a
sweep to open league play has become paramount.
"(A sweep) is a must," UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid said. "It’s
not a question of it being nice. If we don’t win both this weekend,
then we’ve got some real problems."
In recent years, the automatic tournament bid that comes with an
MPSF championship has merely been icing on the cake for the Bruins,
as their inter- and intra-region records have been enough to propel
them into the postseason.
This season, however, the situation is a bit more dire. Without
the league’s automatic bid, UCLA would certainly be on the bubble
for the postseason.
"Our team knows that league is very important because of the
three losses we’ve suffered so far," Schmid said. "This year, to
win the Pacific Division is of a bit greater importance because
we’ve lost to three teams that are competitors in the West."
The task will not be an easy one as the Bruins head to Santa
Barbara to do battle with the Gauchos and with the 3,000
enthusiastic fans expected to pack Harder Stadium. UCSB (2-5-2)
enters the game already familiar with the taste of an upset as they
come in fresh off last weekend’s unseating of sixth-ranked SMU.
In the past, the Bruins have been unfazed by the throngs of
Gaucho supporters. They won at Santa Barbara last season and lead
the overall series 23-2. Moreover, having already played at
Indiana, St. Louis and Washington this year, opposing crowds are
familiar for UCLA.
"Playing at Santa Barbara is not going to be a problem," Shmid
said. "We’re used to crowds being hostile, and we got used to that
early in the season."
When the Bruins return home on Sunday to face the Aztecs, they
won’t be at the friendly and confines of North Field. Instead, they
have been exiled to Murdock Stadium at El Camino College.
The Aztecs pose another problem for UCLA with their defensive,
longball style and their powerful offensive duo of Aaron Susi (five
goals, four assists) and David Beltran (11 points).
"(Susi) can cause you problems if you don’t mark him and aren’t
aware of him," Schmid said. "He is a concern."
Murdock Stadium’s narrow field only compounds the problem that
SDSU (4-3-2) presents. Not only do the Bruins have to contend with
an unorthodox team, but now they have less room to do it in. The
fact that UCLA is still struggling offensively adds still another
element to the equation.
"A team that plays defensive on a field like that, it’s tough to
break them down, especially for a team that’s struggling on
offense," Schmid said. "El Camino plays more into the hands of
SDSU."
There are also concerns about the anemic Bruin offense, which
has scored only 11 goals in eight games. Continuing to struggle at
last weekend’s Husky Classic, the braintrust has shifted the lineup
again, moving to a 4-4-2 in order to allow for more flexibility up
front and on the flanks. With perhaps the biggest weekend of the
season looming, the offense is looking to find its form in a
hurry.
"I am becoming a bit concerned because it’s been eight games and
we haven’t gotten untracked yet," Schmid said. "Now it’s a matter
of us putting it together and going. I think it’s going to take one
game for us to break through it."
The season has come to a point at which UCLA feels a statement
needs to be made to reestablish their damaged mystique. With the
league season ready to begin, the Bruins hope to make this weekend
the first part.
"Winning the division is our way of getting back at Washington
and Cal," Schmid said. "(It will) show them that the first game was
not the result that the second game will be."