How many chances does it take for the Bruins to convert on great
potential assists and score a goal against Washington? After the
1-0 loss to the Huskies on Sunday, this is a question that has been
left unanswered.
During the opening weekend of Pac-10 play for the men’s
soccer team, the No. 12 Bruins got off to an auspicious start in
their quest for a third-straight Pac-10 Championship title. But the
team followed up an impressive 3-1 win over Oregon State on Friday
night with a frustrating one-goal loss to No. 24 Washington on
Sunday afternoon at Drake Stadium.
“I thought we had opportunities to win [the] game,”
coach Jorge Salcedo said. “We played well, but same song,
same dance. We don’t know what to do with good scoring
opportunities.”
In the team’s first Pac-10 loss in two seasons, the Bruins
(5-2-2, Pac-10 1-1) certainly were not lacking in scoring
opportunities. UCLA controlled the ball for the majority of the
game and recorded over three times as many shots as the Huskies, 16
to 5. Similarly, the Bruins’ aggressiveness stood out in
their 11 corner kicks to Washington’s two.
Yet it was Washington (8-3-1) that was able to record the lone
goal of the match, despite having only three shots on goal. Senior
forward Brett Wiesner connected on a skip shot into the top left
corner of the goal at the 12:31 mark of the first half.
UCLA, which had nine of its first half shots deflected, was
unable to overcome this early deficit because of its inability to
capitalize upon quality would-be assists.
Passes skipped across the front of the Washington’s goal
were gobbled by the Husky defense. Headers bounced off the sides of
the goal, narrowly missing their target. Looks of frustration
mounted on players’ faces as their offense was swallowed by
the Huskies.
“It’s a complicated thing, finishing goals,”
freshman forward Kamani Hill said. “When it comes to being in
the final third of the field and being in front of the goal, we
just can’t seem to find the net.
“It’s really mental and our team just needs to get
into the mind that the team can score goals. We’re just not
clicking.”
The majority of the Bruins’ offense was thwarted by
goalkeeper Chris Eylander. Facing the continuous barrage of Bruin
shots, Eylander recorded five saves, stopping a series of stellar
would-be goals.
“Our defense played solid but they still got chances and
on the day we played some really tight defense, the combination of
me and my backs,” Eylander said. “They didn’t get
a lot of shots inside.”
UCLA’s goalie Eric Reed only recorded one save in the
loss.
In the victory against Oregon State, the Bruins managed to break
free from their scoring slump that had plagued them in their
previous two games.
However, the offensive outbreak in the victory against the
Beavers may be deceptive. The Bruins capitalized on three miscues
by Oregon State – two penalty kicks and one goal off an errant
pass.
One bright spot during the weekend was last year’s Pac-10
co-freshman of the year, Chad Barrett, who scored his first goal of
the season on one of the Bruins’ penalty goals.
Now the Bruins find themselves facing an uphill battle in their
attempt to win the Pac-10.
The Bruins will have a chance to rebound in two weeks when they
face off against No. 7 Stanford, a team which currently is the
highest-ranked team in the Pac-10.