The No. 1 UCLA men’s soccer team went to the Bay Area this
weekend looking to solidify its lead in the Pac-10.
The Bruins were successful, winning two games, 1-0 over Cal on
Sunday and 2-0 over Stanford on Friday. UCLA (14-1) is now 7-0 in
the Pac-10, two games ahead of Oregon State, with only three games
remaining in the Pac-10.
The Cal match proved to be the tougher of the two weekend
games.
Freshman defender Kiel McClung scored the only goal of the game
in the 11th minute, knocking in a rebound from a shot that Cal
goalkeeper Mike Oseguera didn’t corral.
The rest of the game was tightly contested, as the Bears were
not awed by the top-ranked Bruins and repeatedly penetrated past
UCLA’s midfield in an attempt at an equalizer.
However, UCLA’s defense held up, as they denied
Cal’s attackers any penetration into the center of the field.
This forced Cal to send balls to the corner flags and send crosses
into the penalty area, and most of those were easily caught by
UCLA’s standout goalkeeper Zach Wells.
One of the few chances Cal did create was when midfielder Alex
Martinez received one of the few crosses to elude Wells’
grasp. Martinez did not take advantage of his opportunity, though,
as his header sailed over the goal.
The first game of the weekend was not as intense for the Bruins,
when they beat conference doormat Stanford
(2-12-2, 0-7-0 Pac-10).
UCLA got on the board early, as freshman forward Chad Barrett
scored his seventh goal of the season in the 28th minute.
Eight minutes later, the Bruins put away the floundering
Cardinal when senior forward Matt Taylor crossed a ball to junior
midfielder Mike Enfield, who put the chance away to make the
score
2-0.
Wells, unlike in the Cal game, was never seriously challenged,
as there was only one shot on goal against him, which he saved.
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Taylor had a four-game scoring streak snapped against Stanford
but totaled two assists in the game. He has a team-high 31 points
this season.
With two shutouts this weekend, Wells has eight shutouts on the
season, only one below his career high of nine, in the 2001
season.
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Due to flight cancellations at LAX caused by Southern California
wildfires, the team was forced to rent four vans and drive back to
Westwood from the Bay Area Sunday night after their win over
Cal.