The doctor took a quick glance at redshirt junior Christian
Pulido’s MRI on Tuesday and the results were clear: torn
labrum. With a radiology exam of the MRI still pending, it is
unclear how long Pulido will be out. The team had been awaiting the
news since last week, when Pulido went down with the injury.
“It is a very big loss,” Krikorian said.
“There’s no particular guy who’s going to take
his place. He does a lot for us offensively, and defensively as
well.”
Pulido hurt his shoulder during a particularly hard practice,
and went in for an MRI Tuesday. After missing the first 11 games of
the 2004 season, Pulido came back in a big way, notching five goals
and four steals and leading the team in field saves with 16.
When asked how the team will respond, Krikorian said,
“It’s going to take a bit of time to get
acclimated.”
The team had to go without their center defender when they
matched up against UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara over the
weekend. Although the Bruins were awaiting the diagnosis, it was
UCSD that had a bigger distraction.
In the middle of Friday’s match at Sunset Canyon
Recreation Center, UCSD senior Brandon Borso lost focus on the game
and got into a dispute with a fan. The fan turned out to be Chris
Calvert, whose brother is the announcer for UCLA. In the third
quarter, Calvert noticed Borso leading off the line before the
opening sprints and started heckling from the stands.
Borso responded from the water with an offensive gesture and a
derogatory remark. Borso lost his composure and later got ejected
for pushing off of Bruin captain David Pietsch.
From Pietsch on down, the Bruins showed their depth, getting
goals from eight players against UCSB on Saturday.
That depth will have to be called upon, with Krikorian shuffling
around the puzzle pieces during Pulido’s absence.
Krikorian didn’t name any specific players, but rather
expects to shift someone from the starting lineup into
Pulido’s role, and then find a way to fill that hole.
The Bruins will be tested down the stretch this season, and will
likely have to do it without one of their big guns.