Following a trip up to the Pacific Northwest for two hard-fought games that both ended in draws after two overtimes, the UCLA men’s soccer team came home to a nice surprise: homemade Rice Krispies Treats delivered by coach Jorge Salcedo’s wife and kids at the end of practice on Thursday
But these treats provided only a short respite for the Bruins before they began to prepare to face the same teams yet again.
After playing at Oregon State last Friday and at Washington on Monday, UCLA will host the same two teams, playing Oregon State and Washington this Friday and Sunday, respectively.
“It’s strange, I feel like we just finished the games and I’m still a little tired,” said senior forward Reed Williams. “And now we’re playing tomorrow and Sunday, but it’s good because we know how they play – it’s fresh in our minds and we just kind of want to revenge those two games.”
It’s not just Williams who still has the two double-overtime ties on his mind. Senior defender Joe Sofia also said he can’t wait to get back on the field against the same two teams from last week.
“We’re coming off two draws in the Pacific Northwest, which is always a tough place to play,” Sofia said. “We’re very motivated to get two wins and hopefully we get two wins at my last two home games at Drake.”
Aside from the two rematches, Senior Day is also coming up fast for the Bruins. Sunday’s game against No. 3 Washington will be No. 4 UCLA’s last regular season home game and will be prefaced with recognition of the team’s seniors.
“It’s a little bittersweet; it’s going to be fun playing at my last home game, but I can’t believe it’s already here,” Williams said. “It feels like I just got here as a freshman; it goes by so quick – it’s kind of surreal.”
The task for Salcedo will be keeping emotions in check as UCLA (7-3-3, 2-1-2 Pac-12) begins another round of play against the Pac-12 conference teams, beginning with the Oregon State (7-6-1, 0-4-1) and Washington (10-0-4, 3-0-2) games this week.
Salcedo said he hopes that the comfort of being at home will be enough to propel the Bruins to wins, not ties. He’ll have his seniors on the field and the home crowd behind them one last time before the team begins its road trip to end the season.
“I know that all the seniors have put a lot of time, energy and effort into their four years at UCLA, they’re guys we’ll honor on Sunday,” Salcedo said. “We’re proud of what they’ve accomplished and we’ll look forward to even more accomplishments this season.”