Friday, October 25, 1996
By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
It is the premiere soccer tournament on the West Coast, and the
host team is arguably the premiere team on the West Coast. But for
some reason, the UCLA MetLife Classic and the third-ranked UCLA
men’s soccer team haven’t been getting along lately.
It’s been three years since the Bruins last captured their own
tournament. But UCLA will get another crack this weekend when Cal
State Fullerton, Saint Louis and Oregon State come to town for the
12th rekindling of the event. UCLA will battle OSU Friday night at
7:30 and Saint Louis on Sunday at 4:00. All games will be at
Spaulding Field.
Not only do the Bruins (11-3) have a chance to recapture a
tournament that they have won seven times and extend their six-game
winning streak, but with the playoffs just around the corner, they
have the opportunity to use MetLife as a springboard into the
postseason.
"We want to make a statement by winning our own tournament,"
UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid said. "It’s important to our rhythm,
we’ve hit our rhythm and we want to keep that going and not go
backwards in any way, shape or form. We want to continue to win and
continue to play well."
"As a young team, it’s something that we need to win from the
standpoint of our own self-confidence. When you suffer a setback,
it’s a little bit harder for them to rebound. Winning is a habit
and we want to maintain that habit."
First up on the order of battle will be Oregon State, which
comes in with an 8-6 record. Although their record isn’t exactly
sterling, the Beavers have a knack for playing well in big games.
They took then second-ranked Washington to overtime one week, and
knocked off another top-five team, California, the next.
Offensively, junior Josh Dodson has flourished in OSU’s
three-forward scheme, posting 10 goals and three assists on the
year. With an aggressive front line and an experienced, coordinated
defense, the Beavers are ready to play the spoiler once again.
"Oregon State is a very dangerous team," Schmid said. "They have
very good speed up front, so if you forget about something, they
have the speed to punish you. They play very composed in the back
and they’re not going to beat themselves."
The Billikens of Saint Louis will be next in the tournament
game, thus renewing perhaps the greatest all-time rivalry in NCAA
soccer. The two teams haven’t squared off since 1979, but during
the 1970s the two squads met twice for the national
championship.
Saint Louis comes in with a 5-7-2 record, which is a benchmark
of their long fall from a preseason top-10 ranking, including an
0-5-2 September swoon. They have started to pull themselves back
together of late, posting an impressive 3-2 victory over
second-ranked UNC-Charlotte on Wednesday.
Although the two teams haven’t met in the regular season in
nearly two decades, they squared off in a preseason scrimmage this
year in St. Louis, a game in which the Bruins won 1-0 and gained
valuable insight into Sunday’s opponent in the process.
"I don’t know how much they’ve changed," Schmid said. "They’re
the kind of team that has been in every game they’ve been playing.
They’re a very dangerous team."
For UCLA, it has been a tale of two seasons thus far. Early
season struggles that saw the Bruins with a 3-2 record and serious
offensive woes have been replaced by a six-game win streak, 15
goals in six games and the MPSF title.
It was the resolution of a pair of variables that has led to the
recent success. First, the shift to the 4-4-2 lineup, and second,
the moving of Nick Theslof and Tom Poltl to forward with Seth
George and Martin Bruno coming off the bench, forming what has been
a frightening offensive rotation.
"That’s the system that’s best for our team and the quality of
players that we have," Schmid said. "Now it’s just a matter of
people becoming a bit more fine-tuned. We’ve got to look to play
the guys that are going well."
The direct result of these manipulations has been the rise of
Theslof to the top of the Bruins’ point charts (with George) with
14, on three goals and eight assists. He earned MPSF Player of the
Week in the process. Also helping the Bruins has been Poltl’s
eruption. After going scoreless through the early part of the
season, he has notched three goals and two assists.
Defensively, the Bruins have been just as tough, allowing two
goals in the last six games with four shutouts. Goalkeeper Kevin
Hartman has posted six shutouts on the season, and his
goals-against-average of 0.79 puts him in the upper half of the
MPSF Pacific Division.
Defender Tahj Jakins has also been stellar, anchoring a back
line that has kept eight of UCLA’s opponents to 10 shots or less.
Jakins was also selected as one of 15 contenders for the Missouri
Athletic Club Player of the Year award.
The tournament will also mark the end of UCLA’s games at El
Camino College. Although the Bruins went 4-0 at Murdock Stadium in
Torrance, they are looking forward to playing in front of a few
thousand of their closest friends.
* * *
The injury bug has been troubling the Bruins of late, as an MCL
strain has shelved midfielder Josh Keller for the next several
weeks, and a foot infection will keep defender Kevin Coye out of
action for the weekend.
WYNN RUJIRAVIRIYAPINYO
MPSF Player of the Week
Nick Theslof