It can be costly to take a week off in the Pac-10. UCLA played
its last game on Oct. 8 against San Diego State, and beat the
Aztecs 2-1 to move into a first-place tie with Stanford in the
Pac-10.
After taking a weekend off, the UCLA men’s soccer team
finds itself in third place behind division-leading No. 17 Cal and
Stanford, which were both active last weekend and play each other
tonight. The Bruins had been tied with Stanford with 10 points
apiece before the Cardinal got its second win over Oregon State to
control second place with 13 points.
The No. 10 Bruins (8-3, 3-1-1 Pac-10) get back in action this
weekend, heading up to the Northwest for a game at Oregon State
(5-9-1, 0-7 Pac-10) tonight and playing Sunday at Washington
(9-5-1, 2-5).
If the team sweeps its last road trip of the regular season
against the conference cellar dwellers, it will still control its
own destiny in the hunt for the Pac-10 title.
If the Bruins win both games and Stanford wins or ties, the
Bruins will find themselves in a tie for first place. If the Bruins
win both games and Stanford loses, then UCLA will be in second
place and two points behind Cal, which comes on the road to
Westwood next weekend.
There are two sides to the story of the matchup between Oregon
State and UCLA. In the Bruins’ favor, the Beavers have lost
their last seven games and have failed to find the back of the net
in their last four. They were outscored 10-0 in that four-game
stretch against Stanford and Cal.
The last time these two teams met was on Oct. 1, with UCLA
winning 2-1 at home on a goal from sophomore Jason Leopoldo in the
54th minute.
In Oregon State’s favor, they have won the last two
matchups against the Bruins at Lorenz Field.
On Oct. 1, forward Robbie Findley and company forced Bruin
goalkeeper Eric Reed to make a career-high-tying seven saves to
preserve the win.
The last time the Bruins faced off against Washington, they
handed the then-No. 4 Huskies their first loss of the season,
taking the game 2-1 in double overtime.
If UCLA is going to end the weekend back on top of the Pac-10,
it will most likely be due in large part to two players in the
midfield. Sal Zizzo and Kyle Nakazawa have combined for 11 assists
on the season, with Zizzo’s seven being good enough for the
lead in the Pac-10.
The sophomore and the freshman have been at the center of a team
that has weathered injury storm after injury storm, and have helped
create goals regardless of who is around them. The Bruins have
gotten goals from 11 different players over the course of the year,
and lead their opponents 23-16.