Last year in the second round of the NCAA Soccer Tournament, the UCLA men’s soccer team lost to Santa Clara, sweeping them off the brackets and leaving them hoping for a better next year. The Bruins finished their 2007 season with a record of 9-9-3.
Fortunately for the team, things are looking brighter for 2008.
With an incoming freshman class that’s ranked one of the best in the country, productive practice sessions in the last couple of months and its first game of the season at the Home Depot Center, the UCLA soccer team is looking at an exciting 2008 season.
The three incoming freshmen include midfielder/forward Eder Arreola, forward Prince Lapnet and defender Victor Yanez, all of whom bring a great deal of talent to the team.
Arreola has starred on many different stages, playing for the U.S. Under-18 and Under-17 National teams. He also delivered a stellar performance in a game with the Chicago Fire Academy team, tallying an assist. In 2007 he was an NSCAA/adidas Youth All-American.
“He’s one of the best attackers in the country, and we’re very fortunate to have him,” coach Jorge Salcedo said.
Measuring 6 feet 2 inches and weighing 180 pounds, Lapnet will bring size and strength to the offensive side. He’s big enough to handle his own in the middle. He grew up in Paris and was a member of Paris St. Germaine Youth Academy. As soon as he moved to the U.S. during his sophomore year in high school, he wasn’t afraid to show off his French skills with a soccer ball. He attended Archbishop Carroll High School and scored 29 goals with 12 assists.
“Prince brings a lot to the team,” Salcedo said. “We’re lucky he’s going to be on our team because he’s going to be a handful for the defenders on the opposing team. He really knows how to get around them.”
Yanez has been a member of both the U.S. and Mexico Under-17 National Teams. Last year, he was named a NSCAA/adidas Youth All-American.
To add to his impressive career, Yanez played club soccer overseas with the world-famous Manchester United Football Club. Salcedo commented that “Victor is probably the fastest player in the group” and a “very tenacious defender on the field.”
The team has been working on specific drills for all positions.
“We’ve been dividing our players in our practices and have been working on really detailed things,” Salcedo said. “Attacking is one thing we really need to work on for next season. The defenders have been working on their footwork, the goalkeepers have been working on their saves, and the forwards have been working on their finishing.”
The team has just released its 2008 schedule and looks forward to kicking off the season against 2005 champion Maryland. The game will take place at the Home Depot Center on Aug. 29 and will be televised on the Fox Soccer Channel.
The schedule will also prove to be a tough challenge.
The Bruins will face five of the seven schools to win NCAA Championships this decade (North Carolina, Indiana, Maryland, UC Santa Barbara and Wake Forest). And the beginning of the year will be crucial to the success of the season; in 2007 the team slumped to start the year and never found the form they had in 2006 when they reached the national championship.
Despite these future encounters with strong opponents, Salcedo remains confident in his team.
“We’re really excited about next year,” he said. “Last year we would always score second, but this year we want to be the first ones to make the first goal, and hopefully we’ll get further this time.”