The saying is certainly cliché, but it’s also true:
It’s harder to stay on top than to get there.
The second-ranked UCLA men’s soccer squad will be faced
with that challenge this fall as they find themselves hunted not
only by the Pac-10, but also the rest of the NCAA as the defending
national champions.
Five games into their season, the Bruins’ record stands at
4-1-0, and they are already feeling the pressure from teams vying
to take the title from them.
“Everyone’s out to beat us,” senior forward
Matt Taylor said. “We’re the team that they want to
beat the most. We know we’re out to get our second
(championship) and we’re going to have to work extra hard to
win. Last year we weren’t slated to win, but this time,
it’s different.”
UCLA’s only loss this season was to current No. 1
Maryland, who the Bruins defeated in the semifinals of the 2002
College Cup en route to the national championship. The Maryland
offense converted a hand-ball foul called on senior defender Tony
Lawson into a goal solidifying the 1-0 scoreline.
“We went to Maryland and everything was against us,”
freshman forward Chad Barrett said. “We got the short end of
the stick and lost, but ever since then everyone’s realizing
that nothing’s going to be given to us.”
The outlook for the Bruins remains strong, and head coach Tom
Fitzgerald doesn’t consider the team’s status as
national champions an influence on their goals for the season.
“Obviously we want to win every game,” Fitzgerald
said. “We want to win the Pac-10 championship and get through
the NCAA tournament to the Final Four. It’s a series of
progressive goal setting.”
That plan of attack is not much different than last year’s
strategy, which worked just fine for the Bruins. Not only did
the team claim the 2002 College Cup, but  Fitzgerald was also
named NSCAA National Coach of the Year and stands as the only
Division I head coach to receive such an honor in his first year of
coaching.
Although the squad lost five seniors after the 2002 season, nine
of this past year’s juniors stepped up lead the team, along
with eight new freshmen. As this past year’s leading scorer,
senior forward Matt Taylor has already recorded two hat tricks this
season for six on 13 shots. UCLA has also found a new
offensive force in Barrett, a two-time NCSAA/adidas All American
who has scored or assisted 11 of the Bruins’ 15 goals this
season.
Other contributing freshmen include defenders Patrick Ianni,
Brandon Owens and Kiel McClung and midfielders Benny Feilhaber and
Taylor Canel. Owens, who graduated a year early to join
UCLA’s squad, missed part of the pre-season due to
commitments to the Under-17s national championship team but,
according to Fitzgerald, has returned to the Bruin squad and is
contributing a great deal.
“We have a group of freshmen that are making an immediate
impact and from here on out we’re just going to get stronger
and stronger as a team,” Taylor said.
Returning starters already making an impact on the Bruins’
season include junior midfielder Mike Enfield, who recorded his
first career goal and two assists in UCLA’s 4-0 victory over
Virginia in the Maryland/adidas Soccer Classic. Senior midfielder
Adolfo Gregorio ““ credited with the game-winning goal over
Maryland in the 2002 College Cup semifinals ““ was the only
UCLA player to take a shot on goal in this season’s loss to
the Terrapins.
Senior goalkeeper Zach Wells has three shut-outs for the season,
with sophomore Nate Pena sharing the Bruins’ 5-0 victory over
Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 14. Wells, who was named the 2002
College Cup Defensive MVP after shutting out Stanford in the
championship match, posts an goals against average of 0.79.
With Stanford, Cal and Washington bringing back strong lineups,
the Pac-10 will certainly present a challenge for the Bruins. But
in keeping with his philosophy, Fitzgerald continues to focus on
the present and refrains from looking too far into the future.
“We’ve played some very good games up to this point,
and if someone offered me 4-1 before our season started I would
have taken it,” he said. “We’re off to a good
start but I see the Pac-10 as very challenging: Stanford, Cal and
Washington will all be very good this year.”
Clearly, though, the Bruins are confident in their
abilities.
“I’m not scared of any team out there,” Taylor
said. “There’s no fear of losing if we can just come
out and play our game.”