The Bruins have a lot on the line this weekend when they host
No. 22 San Diego State and unranked San Diego to close out the
regular season.
Not only are the final Pac-10 standings, and the Bruins’
seed in the NCAA Tournament, up in the air, but so is the
team’s morale.
“(Today’s) game is really important,” junior
defender Mike Zaher said. “It was demoralizing last week, (a
very) tough loss (to Cal). Coming in and peaking this weekend will
snowball into the tournament. So it’s huge for us.”
If UCLA (9-5-3, 4-3-2 Pac-10) wins its final Pac-10 game tonight
against San Diego State (9-5-3, 5-2-2 Pac-10), the Bruins will
finish second in the conference and regain some much-needed
momentum.
In a loss at home last week, the Bruins ceded the Pac-10 title
for the first time in five years to Cal in Westwood. UCLA, however,
sees the defeat as a lost battle. The team is now turning its
attention to the bigger war ““ the NCAA Tournament.
The Bruins finished Thursday’s practice with a
penalty-kick shootout between the seniors and the freshmen. While
the Bruins have had trouble with penalty kicks recently, coach
Jorge Salcedo said the drill was more about preparing for the
tournament, in which multiple players could be called on to make
crucial penalty kicks.
Doing well in the tournament this year is all the team cares
about.
“It’s funny. We won the Pac-10 the last couple years
(and didn’t do well in the tournament),” Zaher said.
“Obviously, winning the Pac-10 prior hasn’t done
anything for us in the tournament.
“At least if we’re making mistakes, we’re
making them now and we’re learning from them. You take a
couple losses so in the tournament you can get that string of five,
six games to win it all.”
The last time UCLA and San Diego State met was in San Diego,
when the Bruins brought home a 2-1 road victory. In that game, they
applied pressure early and were able to get penetration behind the
4-3-3 formation of the Aztecs.
The Bruins are looking to do the same exact thing today.
“We’re looking to open up the field and attack with
numbers,” freshman David Estrada said. “We
haven’t been getting behind (other teams’ defense), so
that’s what we want to do.”
Salcedo said he also wants his team to get the ball to the wing
as soon as possible after winning possession.
On the wing is one of the Bruins’ biggest threats:
midfielder Sal Zizzo, who has been a focal point of the Bruin
offense. He leads the team with eight assists, including one
against the Aztecs where he burned a defender down the side and
found Estrada in the box.
The Bruins complete the weekend by honoring seniors Kiel McClung
and Eric Reed as part of senior day on Sunday, when they host San
Diego (10-6-1, 5-5-1 WCC) in an important matchup.
The Bruins will await selection day for the tournament on
Monday, knowing their weekend finish will have a big affect on
their tournament life.
Salcedo estimated that one win would let the Bruins host a game,
while two wins would give them a shot at a bye in the first
round.
OWENS REDSHIRT: Senior Brandon Owens will take
this as his redshirt year. The defender has been out all season
with a torn ACL. He had hoped to return toward the end of the year,
but that proved to not be an option.