It is safe to say that this weekend’s games are the most
important of the season for the No. 1 UCLA men’s soccer
team.
With only three conference games left in the Bruins’
regular season, a win over Washington tonight and Oregon State on
Sunday would clinch the Pac-10 conference title, which in turn
automatically sends UCLA to the NCAA tournament.
“It’s probably the most important weekend of the
season,” coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “Both games will be
very, very difficult.”
Conference championships are determined on a point system. Three
points are given for every win and one point is allotted for a tie.
Currently, UCLA (15-1, 7-0 Pac-10) leads the pack with 21 points,
but OSU trails by only one win, with 18 points. Assuming the
Beavers win tonight’s night game against Fresno State, who
has only beaten conference doormat Stanford this season, UCLA must
come out of the weekend with two wins to retain its top conference
standing.
When the Bruins played against the Huskies (10-3-2, 3-3-1)
earlier this season, they didn’t find the back of the net
until the 65th minute with freshman midfielder Benny
Feilhaber’s goal.
Washington, ranked No. 15 by the NSCAA/adidas poll, has since
lost to both Cal and Oregon State and has only defeated the lowly
Cardinal in conference play.
However, the Bruins will have to expect an aggressive Washington
offense.
This season the Huskies have outshot opponents, 198-180, and are
led by forwards Leo Totev and Troy Ready, who lead Washington in
scoring with five goals apiece.
“We’re starting to focus on Friday’s
game,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re going to have to
play Friday, recover and play Sunday again.”
Sunday’s game against No. 11 Oregon State (12-4, 6-1) is
equally crucial, and the Bruins will go in expecting the Beavers to
be playing great soccer. The team’s only conference loss came
at the hands of UCLA in Corvallis earlier this season.
Currently, the Beavers are on a school-record six-game
conference winning streak, but UCLA leads the series, 10-2, and has
won the past four match-ups against the team.
“It’s an important weekend, and I know the guys are
aware of the whole Pac-10 situation and the automatic qualification
to the tournament,” Fitzgerald said. “The bottom line
is that we have to go out and continue to play the way we’ve
been playing.”
A win over Oregon State this weekend is, unless the unlikely
situation arises in which both the Bruins and the Beavers lose
tonight, necessary for UCLA to claim the conference title.
If the Bruins keep playing as they have been during their
13-game winning streak, this weekend’s results will most
likely follow suit.