UCLA men’s soccer said goodbye to its nine seniors as they
played their last regular season game at Drake Stadium Saturday
night.
Befitting of this extraordinary group of seniors, the Bruins
beat Fresno State 1-0 to finish the Pac-10 with a perfect 10-0, the
first Pac-10 team ever to achieve that feat.
For the nine seniors, the win brought forth conflicting
emotions, as the possibility of the NCAA not scheduling post-season
regionals at Drake Stadium could make this their last home
game.
“I have mixed feelings just because it is a little
bittersweet. To play this last game in front of our friends and
family, it was something I got butterflies about earlier
today,” senior goalkeeper Zach Wells said. “I could not
stop thinking about it.”
“It’s sad, but we also ended on a good note, going
perfect in the Pac-10, winning the conference the last two
years,” senior forward Cliff McKinley said.
The only goal of the game for No. 1 UCLA (18-1-1) was scored on
a Jordan Harvey header in the 37th minute. It was set up by an
excellent run down the left side of the field by senior midfielder
Ty Maurin, who sent a ball across the face of the goal to freshman
midfielder Kiel McClung.
Fresno State goalkeeper Eric Kronberg overcommitted to McClung,
who sent a cross to a wide open Harvey. He banged home the chance
from six yards out into an empty net.
However, the score did not tell the whole story of this game, as
this Bruin squad was not the same one that beat No. 19 Oregon State
last Sunday 5-0.
This group of players was tired, banged up and some had been
riddled with a flu bug for the last week. The rainy conditions
during the game only served to hinder the Bruins against the
Bulldogs (5-14, 2-8 Pac-10).
UCLA missed some easy chances to score early in the game and
allowed Fresno State to remain in the game until the final
whistle.
“Totally ugly, but we used a lot of players, including all
three keepers, and that was our plan,” coach Tom Fitzgerald
said. “Fresno State came to play, and we missed some easy
goals.”
After having just finished the season, the focus of the UCLA
players and coaches turned to the postseason, which begins on Nov.
22. It was a consensus opinion that the week off will do the Bruins
wonders, as sick and injured players can recover and the team can
concentrate on defending its national title.
“Hopefully we get the No. 1 seed,” Wells said.
“We’re ready to defend our title. We don’t
want to peak right now, we want to peak in the playoffs which would
be great,” McKinley added.
UCLA will find out when and where they are playing in the NCAA
tournament today at 1 p.m. when the brackets are revealed live on
ESPNews. The Bruins are expected to receive a first-round bye. If
that happens, their first game will be Nov. 26.