This weekend, the men’s soccer team has a chance to not only solidify its playoff hopes, but also to announce its arrival on the scene as an NCAA Tournament dark horse.
No. 19 UCLA (8-7-1, 3-3-1 Pac-12) hosts unranked Oregon State (7-7-1, 2-4-1) Friday afternoon, followed by another home matchup against unranked Washington (7-4-5, 3-2-2) Sunday night.
This slate of games follows a big win for UCLA last Sunday, when the Bruins managed to capture a two-goal victory away from home against the then-No. 6 Akron Zips.
“It was a huge morale boost,” said associate coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. “The guys were really determined. We controlled the whole game.”
The Bruins, supported by two goals each from sophomore forward Seyi Adekoya and freshman midfielder Jose Hernandez, had their offense clicking against Akron.
“We got the job done,” sophomore forward Abu Danladi said after Wednesday’s practice. Danladi delivered three assists in the 4-2 UCLA victory.
Junior defender Michael Amick expressed the importance of Sunday’s win in the context of the playoff picture.
“It sets us up to keep working to make the playoffs,” Amick said.
Three games still stand between the Bruins and the playoffs – the two this weekend in Westwood and a final game away from home against unranked San Diego State (7-7-2, 1-6-0) next Saturday.
“The team has the mentality that we need to come in this weekend ready to play and get some wins,” Amick said.
A pair of wins this weekend would help the Bruins maintain momentum going into the season finale. To do so against conference foes, however, they will have to adapt to the two different tactical tendencies that the Beavers and the Huskies will present.
“We are going to prepare for each team differently obviously, they have different playing styles,” Amick said. “Oregon State’s gonna sit back and kind of look for the counterattack, whereas Washington will play more outright and come to play.”
Carlin-Voigt said that he knows UCLA will have to stay sharp and play with resilience if they are to grab a win against Oregon State.
“They’re very organized,” Carlin-Voigt said. “They make it tough to be broken down. They have good belief.”
The coach hopes the Bruins can get on the board first, which would force the Beavers to change their playing style.
“We feel like if we can come out and get the first goal, maybe it will open them up a little bit,” Carlin-Voigt said.
On a road trip to the northwest earlier this season, UCLA played double overtime games against Oregon State and Washington, losing the former and winning the latter.
Oregon State defeated UCLA 1-0 during that October game, on a goal from Beaver star Timmy Mueller. The Bruins turned it around two days later by upsetting the then-No.15-ranked Huskies.
“We have a good understanding now of how to play against them,” Amick said. “It’s kind of just understanding how they play and being prepared to counteract them.”