Monday, October 21, 1996
M. SOCCER:
Defense handles tough challenge, helps Bruins remain undefeated
in leagueBy Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
The UCLA men’s soccer team clinched its fifth consecutive
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Pacific Division title Sunday
night, shutting out Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, at Spaulding
Field.
The seventh-ranked Bruins (11-3) improved to 4-0 in league play
with one league game left. More importantly, they kept the Titans
from loosening the Bruins’ grip on the league. UCLA will now get
another shot at either UC Berkeley or the University of Washington
coming out of the Mountain Division.
"We said this was the biggest game of the year," UCLA head coach
Sigi Schmid said. "We wanted to prove that we were the best team in
Southern California. We did what we needed to do to win and we’re
starting to show the maturity of good teams knowing what they need
to do to win games."
The UCLA defense, which has been coming on strong of late, had
its work cut out for it against the Titans, who brought striker
Sheldon Thomas and his 11 goals to the table. In response, Tahj
Jakins and company came up with their finest performance of the
season, denying Thomas the ball in attacking quarters and keeping
Fullerton from getting on the board.
"My goal is to shut out their best offensive player and I did,"
Jakins said. "I felt good, I won every tackle I possibly could and
I kept on the guys, making positive reinforcement in the back,
because that was the key to our success today by far."
The Bruins got on the board early, when, in the third minute,
freshman Sasha Victorine notched his fifth goal of the season off a
feed from forward Nick Theslof.
The final nail in the coffin had to wait until the 88th minute,
when sophomore Seth George ripped a shot from the right side of the
box.
Although the emphasis was on defense and offensive opportunities
weren’t as plentiful as in recent games, the effort proved one of
the most satisfying of the season.
* * *
Also in men’s soccer, the Bruins defeated UC Irvine, 2-1, on
Friday night at El Camino, earning their third league victory of
the year. Theslof assisted Jakins for the first goal and Theslof
later tallied the game-winner.