After winning all of its in-conference games through the halfway point in the season, the men’s soccer team takes on Cal State Northridge of the Big West.
While the 10-3-1 Bruins have cruised to a cool 5-0 start in the Pac-12, the 6-6-1 Matadors have had much more trouble in their conference, tallying a 3-2-0 record in the Big West.
UCLA has won 10 of its last 11 games and is riding the momentum of being undefeated in conference as it goes into the matchup with Cal State Northridge.
While the Bruins are riding a long wave of success, they remain wary of the Matadors, who most recently lost to the UC Davis Aggies 2-1, identical to the Bruins when they played the Aggies.
“We’re doing well, but you can never get too confident,” sophomore forward Victor Chavez said. “We have to keep our composure and keep working and doing well. We go into every game looking to win, not looking to see who we last beat.”
However, having Chavez on the team should provide UCLA with some confidence. In last year’s matchup, the Bruins won 2-1, with Chavez scoring both goals.
Despite Chavez’s humbleness in stating that the team cannot be too confident, sophomore midfielder Victor Munoz said, “We’ve been doing really well these last few games and we have a lot of confidence going forward, and I think we’re going to do pretty well for the rest of the season.”
Chavez also has a sense of familiarity with the Matadors. Growing up, Chavez played club soccer with Real So Cal, a prolific program that sent many players to top-notch soccer schools. Some of his old friends and teammates are now at Cal State Northridge and Chavez looks forward to playing with them, albeit against them, once again.
“Last year, it was really cool to play against my friends and be able to play well against them,” Chavez said. “The whole club came out there to watch us play, and it was just a really fun game.”
Although UCLA came away with the victory in its last matchup with Cal State Northridge, the Matadors had their chances, tallying nine shots throughout the game and forcing then-redshirt junior goalkeeper Brian Rowe into eight saves, a career high.
The Bruins must also be wary as they could possibly be missing two players that are vital to the team’s success.
Against San Diego State, junior midfielder/forward Ryan Hollingshead, who had started 12 out of the previous 13 games, did not play in the game and was seen sidelined with a knee brace on.
Redshirt junior forward Fernando Monge started the game but played only 25 minutes because of an injury as well.
“We had a couple guys that got hurt on the trip to the Northwest,” coach Jorge Salcedo said. “Two guys that were really important to the way we were playing: (Monge) and (Hollingshead). They’re guys that do a lot of little things that make our team go.”
However, the Bruins are exceptionally deep this year and have players that will be able to step in and fill the gaps.
Against San Diego State, Salcedo said, “I thought guys that came on did a really good job. (Senior forward/midfielder) Eder Arreola did a really good job as a right midfielder when we moved on the right, and (Munoz) and (sophomore forward) Reed Williams gave us some really important plays.”