For the most part, Friday and Sunday were two very different
days; Friday was sunny and hot, while yesterday was rainy and
overcast.
In fact, the only noticeable similarity between the two days
happened to be the results of the UCLA men’s soccer
games.
The No. 12 Bruins (7-3-2, 3-1-1 Pac-10) recorded their first two
ties of the season against No. 23 Cal State Northridge and No. 19
San Diego State on Friday and Sunday, respectively. Both games
ended in a 0-0 draw.
“I think the weekend went so-so,” junior defender
Brandon Owens said. “Every weekend you want to go in and try
to get two wins, but things didn’t go as well as planned this
weekend.”
UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo was not so pleased himself with the
team’s performances this weekend against fellow ranked
schools, but was glad neither game ended with a loss.
“It’s disappointing that we didn’t win this
game and it’s disappointing we didn’t find a way to
score a goal, but we played much better today than on Friday.
“It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t
score,” Salcedo said.
The Bruins’ offensive woes began last weekend, when the
team was in Oregon to play Oregon State, and have carried through
this weekend.
Sunday’s matchup against the Aztecs, which pitted two of
the nation’s top goalies against one another, did not help
the team get back on track with scoring.
UCLA’s Eric Reed and San Diego State’s Tally Hall
ranked second and third in the nation in goals against average
entering the double-overtime game, a statistic that showed
throughout the meeting.
“We had several good opportunities; we had a one-on-one
with Jonathan (Bornstein) and the keeper made a pretty good save
and then we had a couple of loose balls in the box that we were
unable to put away,” Salcedo said.
Reed had several spectacular saves of his own, including one in
the 86th minute.
After Omar Persad shot hit off the left post, Reed stayed with
the play and was able to make a diving save with his leg on Raul
Bautista’s rebound shot.
“He came up with the big save that he needed to,”
Salcedo said. “We were a bit lucky that the ball bounced off
the post.”
Reed later tried to recall what was going through his mind as he
turned around to watch the ball hit the post before getting up to
make the game’s most pivotal save.
“Nothing. I just reacted. I wish I had a thought, but
there’s nothing clear that comes to mind,” Reed
laughed.
Although the Bruins have been outshooting their opponents in
their last three games, they have not been able to record a goal in
over 365 minutes of playing time ““ spanning the course of
four games.
“Throughout the season, a team is always going to go
through some matches where they can’t score goals,”
Salcedo said.
“Unfortunately I think we’re going through that
right now, but I also think we’re not far from changing
that.”
Once again, the Bruins turned to their defensive efforts and
those of Reed to keep them in the game, as Reed recorded his eighth
shutout of the season.
“I’m happy for the shutout,” said Reed, who
later went on to lighten up the relatively disappointing weekend
with a joke.
“It’s another blessing that we’ve been able to
receive, but they say a tie is like kissing your sister, and I
think that’s what it feels like this weekend.”