Just a week after defeating then-No. 10 California at Drake Stadium, the UCLA men’s soccer team is set to travel north and face the Golden Bears once again, this time in Berkeley.
But surprisingly, it won’t be just the Bears who come into Friday’s game with a chip on their shoulder.
With about 10 seconds left in last Friday’s contest against Cal, UCLA senior midfielder Kyle Nakazawa was dribbling out the time in the corner of the field when a Cal defender came up and checked the Bruin player in the back as time expired. Needless to say, a fracas arose on the field which involved pushing and shoving by both teams.
“It was a pretty dirty play at the end of the game,” Nakazawa said after the Bruins’ practice Wednesday. “We were up 1-0 with about 10 seconds to go, so there was no need for what the player did.”
“I was holding the ball in the corner, and he came up and checked me in the back,” Nakazawa added. “He didn’t even try to go for the ball. I think he was just frustrated with the whole game. He knew that they were going to lose.”
However, Nakazawa knows that regardless of what misconduct occurred in the first game, the Bruins have a job to do in Friday’s matchup.
“The main thing for us is trying to stay focused on our game plan and not let any of the outside factors get to us,” Nakazawa said.
As for the actual match, the Bruins are still riding a nine-game unbeaten streak, consisting of seven wins and two ties.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Bears are reeling, having lost three of their last four matches and are currently sitting at fourth in the Pac-10 after being atop the conference standings just a week ago.
“We’re playing a team in Cal that will be very desperate on Friday,” UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo said. “They’ve lost three of their last four games. They’ll be desperate to win, but we’re desperate to go from being a good team to a great team, so we’re going to step up and hopefully show that we’re not content and satisfied yet.”
Although the Bruins defeated Cal seven days ago, Salcedo understands that playing at home and playing on the road present completely separate challenges, not to mention the fact that Cal’s season may depend fully on tonight’s match.
“The game will be night and day for them,” Salcedo said. “When you face a team in the latter part of the season, the second round of the Pac-10, it’s going to be a different challenge for us. We’ll prepare the guys for that. We’ll make a few changes just to make sure we’re prepared and ready to go.”
Nakazawa seconded his coach’s sentiments, commenting that although the Bruins are on the road this time, the outcome of the game depends solely on their performance.
“It’s just going to be a completely different atmosphere,” Nakazawa said. “Last Friday … when we played here, we had a lot of support. But it’s the same team we’re playing, and we’re going to put out the same group of guys that did the job last week, so it’s pretty much just up to us.”