The UCLA men’s soccer team saved its best for last.
Playing in their final game of the regular season, the No. 19 Bruins (10-4-6, 7-1-2 Pac-10) scored a season-high in goals in their overpowering 6-1 win over San Diego State (6-9-3. 3-4-3) on Saturday at SDSU Sports Deck.
The result was a complete turnaround from what occurred in the teams’ last encounter. In that game, which was played at Drake Stadium, UCLA and SDSU battled to a 3-3 draw in double overtime. Since that point, the Bruins went an impressive 7-1-1 and continued that positive trend on Saturday.
“We’re a completely different team than when we played San Diego State several weeks ago,” coach Jorge Salcedo said. “Our sharpness, the way we possessed the ball, our team defending and our finishing were a lot sharper now. Those three things are the reason why we had such a resounding win today.”
Five players were able to help the Bruins achieve their season-best six goals on Saturday.
It all began in the ninth minute after junior midfielder Michael Stephens, who assisted in the first four goals of the match, delivered a cross from the left side to senior midfielder Jason Leopoldo who later put the ball to the lower right side of the goal.
Twenty minutes later, junior forward David Estrada, who also scored the fifth goal of the game in the 71st minute, received a through ball from Stephens and put the ball into the net.
“I feel great that we got the win and I’m excited about the two goals,” Estrada said. “I feel a lot more confident now, and my teammates do too. I think we have a very good chance to keep moving on.”
To add to the Bruins’ victory, freshman midfielder Eder Arreola ended his regular season on a good note by scoring the first goal of his collegiate career in the 56th minute.
“I’m feeling good right now,” Arreola said. “I think it’s the best thing that’s happened so far in college soccer for me. (SDSU’s defensive players) were dropping back too much, and we were able to get past them.”
Just three seconds before the Bruins could achieve the 6-0 shutout, SDSU’s Dennis Sanchez was able to score on a rebound that bounced off redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brian Rowe.
“It was a big disappointment,” junior midfielder Danny Suits said. “I guess it happens and you can’t really get too upset about it. It was kind of unfortunate because it ruined a really good streak. There’s no blame that goes to any of our defenders.”
Now the Pac-10 champion Bruins wait to find out about their seeding in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will air live today at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNEWS.
After a challenging regular season, Salcedo believes his team is ready for the tough opponents that undoubtedly await them in the playoffs.
“We’ve gained a lot of confidence in the last few weeks”, Salcedo said. “We have a very strong résumé. I think without a doubt we should be the No. 1 team in the West (region). I don’t think there’s a team in the country with a better record in the last ten games (8-1-1).
“Whatever happens, we’re ready for it. We feel battle-tested, and if we play one game or two games or three games in UCLA we’ll obviously feel excited. But if we go on the road, we’ll be ready for that as well.”
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