Opening up Pac-10 play on the road against Oregon State and No.
13 Washington looked to be a recipe for an upset against the No. 2
UCLA men’s soccer team.
But two physical wins later, the Bruins (8-1, 2-0 Pac-10) are
off to a great start toward defending their 2002 conference
title.
“Any time you can get wins on the road against two
physical teams in conditions we are not used to, we will take
it,” UCLA goalie Zach Wells said.
The successful weekend started in Corvallis with a 2-1 win over
the Beavers (7-4-0, 1-1 Pac-10).
“OSU is a very good team, and to come into Corvallis and
win was very important for us,” coach Tom Fitzgerald
said.
Senior Adolfo Gregorio was the star of the game, scoring the
game-winning goal on a penalty kick and also tallying an
assist.
Gregorio started the Bruins off in the third minute, finding
senior Dru Hoshimiya open on a free kick from 25 yards out.
Hoshimiya slotted the ball past Beavers goalie Peter Billmeyer for
an early 1-0 lead.
The lead held up until the 56th minute, when OSU’s Ross
Duncan scored a spectacular goal, curling a 40-yard free kick past
Wells and into the upper left corner to tie the game.
But Gregorio put the Bruins back in the lead for good with a
penalty kick in the 71st minute.
The Beavers had one more chance to tie the game when Wells
dropped a cross and Duncan appeared to have scored, but a foul was
called on the Beavers, negating the goal and preserving the
win.
Despite the loss, the Beavers were happy with their effort.
“We really proved that we are good enough to play with
anyone in the country,” OSU coach Dana Taylor said. “I
thought we played very well defensively and looked
organized.”
The game was marked by physical play, with 21 fouls called
against the Beavers and 15 against UCLA.
But if the Bruins were sore after the OSU game, they would be
even more battered after the battle against the Huskies (7-1-1, 1-1
Pac-10), which UCLA won 1-0.
Forty-four fouls and six yellow cards punctuated the play
between the Pac-10 rivals.
Despite UCLA’s 27 fouls and four yellow cards, Fitzgerald
was not concerned that things got out of hand.
“No, not at all. We ask our guys to battle. A couple of
the yellow cards were insignificant, and we controlled ourselves
enough to win the game,” he said.
The only goal of the game came from freshman midfielder Benny
Feilhaber, who scored near-post on a ball six yards out off a
deflected cross from sophomore Ryan Valdez.
The Bruin defense produced its fifth shutout in nine games,
allowing only one shot on goal the entire game, making things easy
for Wells.
“I think we matched the physicality of Washington,”
Wells said. “We started to play the ball on the ground and
not get caught up in the other team’s antics and actually
play soccer.”