Thanks to four consecutive shutouts, the UCLA men’s soccer team is currently on a four-game winning streak.
The Bruins, who currently sit atop the Pac-10 conference standings, have only lost once in their last 11 matches. That loss came at Palo Alto on Oct. 12 against Stanford. Ever since the Cardinal scored the game-winner with 15 minutes to go in regulation, UCLA’s stingy defense has not allowed a goal.
To put that into perspective, the Bruins have played 375 minutes since that goal and have managed to hold Pac-10 opponents to zero points.
“A shutout is always one of, if not the top priority before we start the match,” junior defensive midfielder Danny Suits said. “I think all the guys on our team are true believers that great defense is the key to winning games.”
Recently, the defense has been just that.
The success can be traced to a change coach Jorge Salcedo made to his formation. After the loss to Stanford, Salcedo implemented a scheme that features a pair of defensive midfielders, which focuses on preventing rather than attacking. Now the defense is consistent, something the offense also benefits from.
“(The defensive formation) gives us the opportunity to possess the ball more and build up our attack, which creates more scoring chances moving up the field,” senior forward Maxwell Griffin said.
Suits, who was one of the players who made the move to defensive midfielder, also believes that a stable defense aids the team’s ability to put points on the board.
“Now that defensively our team has stepped up, it has taken a great deal of pressure off of the offensive players,” Suits said. “Everyone seems to be a little more relaxed; and because of this, our team’s natural ability to play very good soccer is starting to come out. We have one of the best group of guys in the country, and now we are actually able to show that.”
In the last four matches, the Bruins have scored a total of eight goals. Though the Bruins had scored nine goals total in the four games prior to the current winning streak, they had also allowed nine goals. The defensive improvement now allows the offense to increase its aggressiveness.
“I think it really gives us a great deal of confidence knowing that we are strong in the back,” Griffin said. “It encourages the offense even more to score and get an early lead.”
Despite the formation’s efficiency, Suits is aware that the team seems more focused on eliminating costly errors.
“We as a group have become much more concerned with not allowing silly goals,” Suits said. “You can see a bit more urgency when the ball is in dangerous parts of the field, and our defense as a whole has gotten much smarter with our shape and how we pressure the ball.”