Forget about being good.
Having begun the season ranked No. 19 nationally, the UCLA men’s soccer team now sits at No. 2 in the country after posting a record of 8-1-2 in 11 games, and coach Jorge Salcedo is no longer looking to be good.
He sees the potential for greatness.
“In preseason we talked about becoming a good team, which I think we have become, and now we’re talking about becoming a great team,” Salcedo said after Tuesday’s practice. “Going from good to great takes a lot of work and consistency, but more importantly the mentality that you’re not happy with where you’re at. You want to keep pushing forward.”
Salcedo’s optimism is backed by the Bruins’ weekend performance in which UCLA shut out Pac-10 rivals then-No. 10 California and then-No. 18 Stanford.
On Friday, in their Pac-10 home-opener, the Bruins took down Cal 1-0, claiming sole possession of first place in the Pac-10 conference standings. UCLA then followed up with a 2-0 victory over Stanford on Sunday, completing the weekend sweep of the Bay Area schools and setting themselves away from the pack in the conference standings.
Cal and Stanford fell in the rankings to No. 20 and No. 21, respectively.
“It was exactly what we wanted,” Salcedo said. “The guys came out Friday night and from the first whistle really got after it. The game on Sunday was a bit of a grind, but the guys did what they needed to, and we’re obviously happy with the results.”
Part of the reason for the Bruins’ success over the weekend was the play of senior goalkeeper Brian Perk, who was named Pac-10 Men’s Soccer Player of the Week on Monday. This marks the fourth time Perk has won the award, tying the Pac-10 record held by Bruin alumnus Tim Pierce.
Coming off of a serious eye injury sustained in the game a week ago, Perk posted three saves against Cal including a crucial save in the 79th minute to preserve the victory for the Bruins. Against Stanford, Perk had two saves.
The weekend games were Perk’s second and third shutouts of the season, a feat that Salcedo did not see coming.
“It was a very serious eye injury, so I wasn’t sure how he would respond,” Salcedo said. “But he just worked hard throughout the week, and he had a great weekend. He’s in a good spot right now, and he’s sharp, and he does a lot of good things for us.”
“He’s a competitor, he’s a fighter,” Salcedo added. “When he got hurt against San Diego State, he kept saying “˜Stitch me up and put me back out there.'”