MEN’S SOCCER Sunday, 10 a.m. v. Duke Durham,
N.C.
On a soccer field the best view is that of the goalkeeper.
Involved in the game from whistle to whistle and positioned at the
far end of the field, a goalkeeper sees everyone and
everything.
Watching UCLA play Clemson last Sunday in the third round of the
NCAA men’s soccer tournament, UCLA’s senior goalkeeper,
Eric Reed, made evident how crucial a communicative goalkeeper is.
He takes advantage of his superior view, helping his teammates
heighten their awareness of the field, to ensure a victory.
“I pretty much just try to be their eyes,” Reed
said. “If I see something that they can’t or if I need
to remind them or encourage them to do something, I do whatever I
can to get on them and help them out.”
Reed’s two recorded saves in Sunday’s game is a
misleading statistic. Throughout the game, his voice was heard
above the rest of the team, whether it was telling a teammate where
to swing the ball, when an opposing player was sneaking in on them,
or just encouraging them to push up.
“I try to get to know each guy,” Reed said.
“Some guys need harder encouragement, some guys need a little
tough love. I tell them whatever they need to know to get the job
done.”
It is possible that each time Reed helps a teammate get into
position, he is also saving a goal.
The importance of good defensive positioning was demonstrated in
a nail-biting play on Sunday. Clemson’s Hector Quintanar
headed the ball down past Reed and could easily have been a goal if
it weren’t for defender Brad Rusin being in the perfect
position.
“I saw the ball take a bounce so I just cleared it
out,” Rusin said. “It’s all I could
do.”
As for the rest of the NCAA tournament, coach Jorge Salcedo said
Reed will remain in goal.
“We went with him in the first playoff game and we won
that,” Salcedo said. “Obviously beating Clemson was
another good win and Reed was in goal for both of those games. On
Sunday he’ll be in goal again.”
Reed has his work cut out for him as his eighth-seeded team
travels to Durham, N.C., to face top-seeded Duke this Sunday at 10
a.m. in the tournament quarterfinals.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the tournament and very
balanced with strong players from the goalkeeper to the
forwards,” Salcedo said. “They’re very solid and
they have a couple special players.”
One of the special players Salcedo is referring to is sophomore
forward Mike Grella, Duke’s leader in goals with thirteen
this season.
“We’ll pay special attention to him,” Salcedo
said. “We’ll be prepared to make it difficult for him
to do anything dangerous against us.”
Duke has also had two shut-out games in the NCAA tournament, so
far defeating Brown and Lehigh. Though both UCLA and Duke lost to
Maryland in the regular season, Duke beat them in the ACC
Tournament 1-0. Duke also beat Virginia 2-1, a team to which UCLA
lost 0-1. However, Duke lost to Clemson 0-1 in their last regular
season game.
The winner of this Sunday’s game will go on to St. Louis,
MO., for the College Cup beginning on Dec. 1.