Men’s Soccer
Sunday, 2:30 p.m. v. San Diego State San Diego
The UCLA men’s soccer team got off to just the start it
wanted on Thursday night, getting on the board in the first minute
of play against UC Santa Barbara en route to a 3-1 victory.
Entering the game, the No. 11 Bruins (7-3-2) knew they would be
forced to get off to a good start to at least have some success in
silencing a crowd that would play the role of the 12th man nearly
as well as any other group of fans. UCLA took an early 1-0 lead off
a Michael Stephens goal ““ just one of the many contributions
the Bruins would receive from their five freshman starters.
“After we scored, I thought we had some momentum,”
coach Jorge Salcedo said. “Our team showed great character in
maintaining their poise and not letting up very easily.”
However, the Gauchos (6-5-0) did pose a threat, equalizing the game
midway through the first half on a rebound. In doing so, they got
the crowd back into the game. With 45 seconds remaining in the
first half, UCLA sophomore Jason Leopoldo gave his unfazed squad
the lead once again. “Going into the second half with the
lead helped a lot,” Salcedo said. “That one-goal lead
gave us an extra boost of confidence and our guys used it to their
advantage.” The Bruins’ advantage soon became the
Gauchos’ disadvantage. Just 10 minutes into the second half,
UCSB was forced to play a man down after Greg Curry was issued his
second yellow card for a foul he committed on Leopoldo. But UCLA
made sure to be even more cautious, knowing that each opponent on
the field would put forth a greater effort in trying to tally a
goal to equalize the game. “Oftentimes in soccer you see a
guy get a red card and each of the 10 men knows he has to work that
much harder to try and get a goal on the board,” Salcedo
said. “I thought for a bit they might have a shot at tying
the game again, but our guys really stepped up.” As the game
began to wind down, the Bruins showed their dominance on the
offensive end. Freshman forward David Estrada put yet another goal
on the board. “I was really happy with the maturity that we
showed,” Salcedo said. “It really shows how our team
has responded to all the adversity we’ve faced so far.”
With the 3-1 win, the Bruins extended their unbeaten streak over
the Gauchos to 16. “It was a really big win for us away from
home,” Leopoldo said. “It’s just another step
towards building on our goal of winning the Pac-10 because it helps
us gain even more momentum.”
NEXT GAME: The Bruins will travel to San Diego
State on Sunday, where they will face an Aztec squad that finds
itself in first place in the Pac-10. “The way we’re
playing right now, it looks like we have a good chance to make it
to the top of the Pac-10, so it should be a really good
game,” Leopoldo said. “But at the same time,
we’re aware that they’re a good team that has beaten
some high-quality opponents.” With a win against the No. 25
Aztecs, the Bruins would move into first place in the conference
after a less-than-impressive start to the Pac-10 season. The Bruins
will have won three consecutive conference games after losing the
first to Cal and then tying Stanford, successfully completing a
much-needed season turnaround with a group of players who
weren’t expected to see playing time together as a unit. Last
season, the Bruins were able to boast a 1-0-1 record against the
Aztecs with a win at home ““ off a 103rd-minute goal from
Kamani Hill, who will rejoin the Bruins next season ““ and a
tie on the road. “The fact that we have an extra day of rest
is a huge benefit due to our game on Thursday instead of
Friday,” Salcedo said. “Right now we just have to get
refreshed and get ready for the big game ahead.”