The day the UCLA men’s soccer team has been waiting for
has finally arrived. The team will play its first postseason match
tonight at home against Loyola Marymount.
“We feel good, we’re really excited that the
playoffs are here,” freshman midfielder Eli Meschures
said.
While this is UCLA’s first playoff game, it will be the
second for the Lions.
The No. 3 seeded Bruins (13-3-3) had a first-round bye while LMU
(15-3-2) played Cal State Northridge on Saturday in the first
round, and beat them 1-0.
Earlier this season, the Lions beat the Bruins 2-0.
However, the Bruins feel they are a much different team than the
one that lost to LMU.
“We weren’t as motivated to play them last time
because we hadn’t lost yet,” senior forward Tim Pierce
said. “We’re motivated now.”
Since that game, UCLA has gone 9-2-3, won the Pac-10 title, and
wrapped up the No. 3 seed in the College Cup, ensuring themselves
of home matches up until the Final Four.
On the other hand, LMU hasn’t beaten a single ranked
opponent since that game.
“We have a chance to redeem ourselves,” UCLA head
coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “We don’t need much outside
inspiration.”
In that early season game, the Bruins were held scoreless, and
the Lions’ Yuji Teranishi and Michael Erush both tallied
goals.
“We know how they play now, and we’re not too
worried about them,” Meschures said.
While the two teams may not be evenly matched now, the better
team doesn’t always win in soccer. The UCLA women’s
soccer game outshot Texas A&M 21-0 in their third-round match
on Saturday, but the Aggies won the game 0-0 (3-1 penalty
kicks).
“Strange things can happen in the playoffs,”
Fitzgerald said.
One factor that may help the Bruins tonight is the time off they
have had since their last game. The Bruins haven’t played in
ten days, while the Lions just played a close, grueling playoff
matchup on Saturday.
Also, midfielder/defender Jordan Harvey will be back for the
Bruins. Harvey missed four games because he was playing for the
U.S. Under-20 National Team at the 2003 World Youth
Championships.
If the Bruins win tonight, their next game will be on Saturday,
at Drake Stadium, 7 p.m., against the winner of Cal and UCSB.