Friday, January 24, 1997
CLUB:
Second-year coach gets results with strong goalie, improved
defenseBy Rocky Salmon
Daily Bruin Contributor
Although men’s lacrosse has existed at UCLA for over 25 years,
little is known about the sport.
The sport has blossomed on the East Coast, but interest has
remained stagnant at UCLA. This decline in interest has left the
UCLA men’s lacrosse team lacking experienced players. Last year the
Bruins’ depleted team finished the season with a 5-10 record.
"Last year the program hit rock bottom," captain Jeff Rieger
said. "There was a lack of players the past few years."
However, this year the club has been revitalized with a new flow
of freshmen and several experienced veterans. Freshman attackers
Paul Eugenio and Matt Hill have given the offense a much-needed
boost, leading the team to a tournament sweep at Loyola Marymount
earlier in the year.
The Bruins completed the tournament undefeated and clinched the
tourney title with a victory over the seventh-ranked Lions.
"LMU knocked us out of the playoffs the year before," senior
midfielder Randy Josselyn said. "So when we beat them it fired us
up for the season."
One of the main reasons for the sudden success of this year’s
team is second-year Coach Wes Parrish-Radulovich. By emphasizing
team defense, Parrish-Radulovich has patched up the club’s most
glaring weakness from last year.
Freshman goalie Pete Abbot has also been a valuable addition to
the club.
"Team defense and a strong goalie are two things which were our
shortcomings last year," Rieger said. "This year with our strong
improvements, we should really surprise some teams."
Cal Poly San Luis Obisbo hopes the Bruins will wait a couple of
weeks before they start throwing surprise parties. On Sunday, the
Bruins will take on the Mustangs in a home contest. Last season,
UCLA lost to Cal Poly, 8-7. With only 30 seconds remaining, the
Mustangs scored a highly contested goal for the win.
With bad blood between the teams stemming from the game, UCLA
not only wants to win but actually expects to.
"This first game is our revenge game," Josselyn said. "We have a
dynamic team so we definitely should win."
With a variety of new weapons and a nucleus of veteran players,
the men’s lacrosse team is ready for an exceptional season. Many
players on the team feel that this year they have all of the
necessary components needed in order to erase memories of last
year’s disappointing season and to make this year better than
last.
They’ll start to find out Sunday.