Ever since a disappointing 2-1 loss to Ohio State in
mid-September, the UCLA men’s soccer team has gotten back on
track, following their trend of shutout victories.
Prior to the loss, the Bruins had shut out three straight
opponents, including then-second-seeded Maryland.
Following the loss, the team has had similar success, including
two crucial victories against fellow Pac-10 rivals California and
Stanford.
After allowing four goals in their first two games of this
season, the Bruins have allowed only two goals in their past seven
games, six of which were shutouts.
If things continue to go their way this weekend as they head to
the Pacific Northwest, the Bruins will get off to a quick 4-0 start
in Pac-10 conference play.
The Bruins face a solid Washington Huskies team Friday night
before heading to Corvallis, Oregon, to compete against Oregon
State.
“Washington is a really good team and it’s going to
be a tough game,” freshman forward Sal Zizzo said.
In fact, it was the Huskies who the Bruins had to beat on the
road just one year ago to clinch their third consecutive Pac-10
Championship berth, and Jorge Salcedo’s first since being
hired as the head coach of the Bruins.
“Winning these two games puts us in a great position to
win the Pac-10,” Salcedo said of the Washington and Oregon
State games and their significance in defending the Bruins’
title as the conference powerhouse.
“We feel like we have a very good chance of winning it
again this year,” he added.
The Bruins have jumped in the rankings in all recent soccer
polls after performances against Cal, a previously unbeaten team
with a higher seed, and Stanford.
The team moved to No. 5 in both the Top Drawer Soccer and
College Soccer News polls.
The quick start by the Bruins has Salcedo impressed, but he
knows better than to celebrate his team’s accomplishments
this early in the season.
“They’re two very tough teams,” Salcedo said,
“It’s very rare that any Pac-10 team goes up and wins
both games in the Northwest.”
Washington, like the UCLA squad, has recorded several shutouts
thus far this season. However, they have not been able to produce
offensively in the same manner as the 12th-ranked Bruin
offense.
UCLA will make the challenge of scoring even more difficult for
the Huskies, boasting a .75 shutout percentage which ranks fourth
in the nation.
This weekend’s games, along with the Bruins’
undefeated start, has Salcedo reminiscing over the 2002 season in
which the team got off to a strong start and finished Pac-10 play
with an unblemished record, not to mention an NCAA
Championship.
“A couple years ago we ran the table in the Pac-10,”
Salcedo recalled.
“We won every game and were 8-0. That’s our goal
this year. We want to go up there and win two games this
weekend.”