Three games into Pac-10 play, the No. 4 UCLA men’s soccer team finds itself with one win, two ties and a small chip on their shoulder.
After weathering the storm of a tough three-game road trip to begin conference play, the Bruins, who have not lost in their last seven matches, know that they let the last two matches slip out of their hands.
“I think overall it was a decent three games in the results, not losing and being pretty close to the top of the Pac-10,” coach Jorge Salcedo said after Tuesday’s practice. “We’re comfortable and happy with that, but also we’re a little bit uneasy with the fact that we thought we should have won the two games that we tied.”
In UCLA’s second Pac-10 match on Oct. 4 against Washington, the Bruins scored an own goal to tie the game 1-1, which ended up being the final score.
A week later against San Diego State, a mishit ball by a UCLA defender bounced off an SDSU player and into the Bruin goal, tying the match 1-1. The game ended in a 2-2 tie.
“The game at Washington we gave away a bad goal and the game at San Diego State we gave away a bad goal,” Salcedo said. “To become a very good team we have to get rid of those mistakes that have cost us.”
But despite their miscues, the Bruins were able to escape the weekend unscathed and are looking forward to their Pac-10 home-opening weekend. On Friday, UCLA will play host to No. 10 Cal, and Sunday, they will welcome No. 18 Stanford.
“We can’t wait,” Salcedo said. “The next two weekends are kind of make-or-break games for our season and for our conference, playing Cal and Stanford at home and then going up to the Bay Area.”
“I think the guys realize the importance of the weekend,” he added. “We have within our conference three of the top 25 teams in the country, so it’s a competitive conference and these games are vital. You need to win your home games.”
One glaring issue that will surely be on Salcedo’s mind this week is the condition of star goalkeeper Brian Perk.
Perk suffered an eye injury in the Bruin’s match against SDSU Sunday, when Aztec Matt McManus slid into the box at the same time as Perk, his cleats connecting with the UCLA goalie’s face. Perk, a senior, was forced to exit the game and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Coach Salcedo is unclear as to whether Perk will be available for Friday’s match.
“We’ll see,” Salcedo said. “It was a pretty serious injury to have his eyelid cut the way it was. We’ll continue to evaluate him. I know he wants to play because he’s a very competitive person.”
As for coach Salcedo’s feelings about the incident, he was less than happy about McManus’s judgment.
“It was a borderline play,” Salcedo said. “I think that most referees and third parties would agree that it was a pretty dangerous play. Was it a cheap shot? Only McManus knows, but it definitely wasn’t a good play.”