Winning the Pacific-10 Conference is a goal for any of its
member teams, including the UCLA men’s soccer squad.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, they’ll need some help over
the next few days.
“We will really be rooting for Oregon State and Washington
this weekend,” forward Matt Taylor said. “We need them
to take a point off of Cal.”
Technically, the Bruins are currently in first place in the
Pac-10, with a 7-2 conference record (12-3-2 overall). The seven
wins give UCLA 21 points (three points for a win, one point for a
tie). Second-place Cal is 6-1-1 in the Pac-10 (13-3-2 overall),
giving the Golden Bears 19 points. However, Cal has two conference
games left, while the Bruins have only one.
“Going into the season, our objective was to win the
Pac-10,” UCLA head coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “And
we’ve put ourselves in a good position to win it.”
Winning the conference title is also important for another
reason ““ playoff positioning. The first four rounds of the
64-team tournament are played at campus sites, meaning that a team
ranked in the top four nationally can host all four rounds.
The Bruins are currently No. 6 in the country, and a Pac-10
title would probably move them up in the rankings.
“Playing at home is very important,” Taylor said.
“We get to play with our atmosphere and take teams out of
their elements.”
The Bruins could have controlled their own Pac-10 destiny, but a
1-0 double-overtime loss to Cal last weekend gave the Bears the
chance to win the conference.
“I think that loss could have a domino effect,”
Fitzgerald said. “If we win both our games this weekend, and
Cal loses or ties one, it doesn’t have an effect at all. If
they don’t, that loss is big.”
On Sunday, the Bruins play their last conference game of the
season at Fresno State (5-10-4, 2-6-1).
Cal will play at Washington (5-9-3, 2-6) on Friday and at Oregon
State (12-6, 3-5) on Sunday.
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Tonight, UCLA plays its last regular season home match against
the University of San Francisco (10-7).
This will be the first non-conference game for the Bruins since
Oct. 6. For seniors Chadd Davis, Jimmy Frazelle, Ryan Futagaki,
Chapin Kreuter and Tim Pierce, it marks their last regular season
appearance at Drake Stadium.
Freshman midfielder/defender Jordan Harvey will miss the game
because he is playing for the U.S. Under-20 National Team.