In last year’s NorCal tournament, UCLA beat Cal to advance to the final game against USC.
There, they lost, unable to escape their crosstown rival even though they were hundreds of miles away from Los Angeles.
This year, history repeated itself. The Bruins beat the Golden Bears and advanced to a final game against the No. 1 Trojans, in which they lost 7-6.
No. 2 UCLA has not beaten USC since the finals of last year’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, which was soon followed by a loss to them in the NCAA title game.
Getting to the final was a challenge in and of itself ““ they trailed California at halftime in the semifinal, and the closely contested game went into overtime. UCLA came out with an 11-10 victory after a goal by sophomore attacker Chris Fahlsing.
The tournament was a tough introduction to 2012 MPSF play, with four games throughout the weekend. UCLA won a total of three.
Saturday, they captured a 16-5 win over Concordia and a 9-4 win over Pacific.
USC delivered UCLA its first loss of the season, putting a damper on the Bruins’ best start in 16 years. The team dropped to 11-1 on the year.
The Bruins were unable to rally until the very end of the first half, when they scored the last two goals of the second quarter.
However, the Trojans had already gotten the ball past redshirt senior goalkeeper Matt Rapacz five times at that point.
Although USC did not have much success on the offensive in the second half, scoring only twice, UCLA was unable to get enough momentum going.
Offensive efforts from the Bruins were scattered, with six goals from six separate players.
The Trojans had a center to their offensive leadership, with four goals from junior driver Nikola Vavic.
USC’s 2011 goalkeeper, Joel Dennerley, graduated last year. He was the bane of many of UCLA’s efforts last season, playing a major role in defeating them in the NCAA Championship.
His successor, junior James Clark, seems to have more in common with him than just a spot on the Australian National Team. His 11 saves staved off many Bruin attempts at goal.
Although USC managed to net seven goals, it had chances for many more. Rapacz came away with 15 saves in the final game.
The win marked USC’s third straight NorCal Tournament title.
Once again, the weekend provided an opportunity for Bruins to shine who have not gotten much of a chance in recent seasons, or who haven’t even been at UCLA yet.
Fahlsing’s playing time last season was scarce, and freshman utility Danny McClintick scored in two games this weekend. He managed to net goals in his first nine games as a Bruin before that streak ended against Pacific.
Next weekend UCLA comes home for two games, one against Golden West Junior College and another against Loyola Marymount.
But the Bruins will be back on the road the weekend after. They will then go back to a difficult tournament schedule with the SoCal Tournament, where there will be the opportunity for a rematch between the rival teams.
Compiled by Emma Coghlan, Bruin Sports senior staff.