By Christie DeBeau
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s soccer team was victorious last Friday at UCSB’s
Harder Stadium, defeating the Gauchos 1-0 in their league
opener.
The 13th-ranked Bruins overcame the upset-minded Gauchos (2-6-2)
to post their 10th straight victory against UCSB, dating back to
1982. "(The victory) is big because it’s the opener of our league,
and Santa Barbara is a tough place to play," UCLA head coach Sigi
Schmid. "We would like it to have been more than 1-0; in the second
half we had four or five good chances."
The Bruins (6-3-0) had to fight to hold their lead which came on
a goal by forward Nick Theslof 27 minutes into the first half.
UCLA struggled late in the second half when Gaucho forward Aron
Wellman fired three shots in the 78th minute, one of which flew
over the crossbar while the other two were stopped by goalkeeper
Kevin Hartman.
"I didn’t have to do very much until the end of the game,"
goalkeeper Kevin Hartman said. "It kind of got really panicky, and
I was able to come up with some good saves." The 1,200 strong
Gauchos’ crowd presence was felt during UCSB’s late run, and any
time the Gauchos touched the ball.
"The crowd sort of got Santa Barbara back into it. They got
excited about things that really were not that dangerous," Schmid
said. Theslof’s goal proved to be all the Bruins needed. This was
the second year in a row Theslof scored the game-winner against the
Gauchos at Harder Stadium.
"(Theslof) scored the goal here last year," Schmid said. "So we
are thinking about calling (Harder Stadium) "Nick’s place."