While the rest of UCLA’s student body dons costumes
tonight, the UCLA men’s soccer team will be wearing the same
white jerseys they’ve worn nearly every weekend since
mid-August.
Tonight, the No. 1 Bruins (14-1, 7-0 Pac-10) will host Rutgers
(9-4-3, 3-3-3 Big East) in one of UCLA’s last two
non-conference games before the start of the postseason.
“Rather than not play at all, we need to play good
competition,” coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “Rutgers gives
us a tough team to play down the stretch.”
UCLA’s ticket to the NCAA tournament, at this point, is
practically guaranteed. The champions from every national
conference automatically advance to the tournament, and with three
conference games left in their season, the Bruins are two full
games ahead of second place Oregon State (10-4, 4-1 Pac-10).
Rutgers, which concluded Big East conference play with a victory
over West Virginia on Tuesday, will be looking for a win against
the Bruins to improve its standing with the NCAA tournament
committee as well.
“This is a great opportunity to play our way into the NCAA
Tournament,” Rutgers coach Bob Reasso said. “No matter
what happens in the Big East, if we get results outside the region
it helps our chances to make the NCAA tournament.”
Last year’s game between the Bruins and Scarlet Knights
resulted in a 1-1 tie. In that game, current Rutgers forward Josh
Gros made his first career goal to even the score. This season,
Gros has tallied 13 goals, the same number as UCLA senior forward
Matt Taylor, the Bruins’ leading scorer.
Though the Scarlet Knight offense will be looking to find the
back of the Bruin net, that has not been easy to do so far this
year. UCLA’s defense has set a tone for the season, allowing
only six goals over the course of 15 games.
“We’re on a stretch where every game is
important,” senior defender Tony Lawson said. “We need
to re-assert ourselves as the No. 1 team and prove day-in and
day-out we are national champions.”