The No. 18 Bruins had been on a roll before their 2-0 loss at
Washington Sunday snapped a five-game winning streak and put even
more pressure on their remaining Pac-10 games.
Weary from travel, the men’s soccer team came out flat
against the Huskies and were unable to battle back after getting
down in the first half.
“We had chances but we couldn’t capitalize on
them,” freshman midfielder Kyle Nakazawa said. “It just
wasn’t a good day overall. We gotta forget about it and put
it behind us, because this weekend is going to be another big
weekend for us.”
The biggest problem for the Bruins was penetrating the defense
of the Huskies, who were able to drop back after netting two
first-half goals.
After a Monday practice to prepare for the week’s
training, the Bruins will focus on drills to specifically target
getting position on the opposition’s defense.
“(Washington) did a good job of making it difficult for us
to get in behind them,” coach Jorge Salcedo said.”What
we’ll do today is some movement to try and get our wide
midfielders in behind the outside backs, and once we do get them
behind, increase numbers around the box.”
The Bruins’ ability to open up the field on offense will
be greatly improved if they can find the back of the net first, and
force their opponents to stay on the attack.
The team is confident that if they can do that they will be
firmly in the driver’s seat.
“When we score early, most teams don’t beat
us,” junior defender Mike Zaher said.
Zaher and the Bruins will have to test that theory against the
cream of the division this weekend, hosting Stanford on Friday
night and Cal on Sunday after the Bears play at San Diego State.
UCLA and Stanford are tied for second in the conference with 13
points while Cal leads with 18 points.
The Bruins have three home games to finish the conference
season, while Cal has three on the road.
The situation with the standings makes Friday night against
Stanford mathematically huge for the Bruins.
“If they (Cal) lose at San Diego State (and we beat
Stanford), then our game (Sunday) will be for first place,”
sophomore midfielder Sal Zizzo said.
The Bruins will be without a couple key starters Friday night.
Zizzo will be out due to the red card he picked up against
Washington, and joining him on the bench will be senior defender
Kiel McClung.
As per NCAA regulations, if a player picks up five yellow cards
on the season then he has to sit out the following game.
“Obviously, Sal and Kiel are big losses, (and it’s)
not that Stanford will be easy, but I’d rather have them out
for Stanford instead of Cal,” Zaher said.
Salcedo commented that freshman defender Chance Myers will most
likely fill in for Zizzo, while the situation on defense is
undecided.
“The guys (in contention are) Pat Rickards, or
there’s the possibility of moving one of our center
midplayers, probably Greg Folk, maybe to right fullback,”
Salcedo said.
All things considered, the Bruins could start as many as seven
freshmen for Friday night’s game.
“If you asked me that in August, how would I feel going
into a hugely important weekend having seven freshmen (start), I
would have never thought that could be a possibility,”
Salcedo said. “(But now) the guys that are gonna step in I
know are gonna do the job.”
KEEPER QUESTIONS: Salcedo declined naming the
starting goalie for either of the weekend’s games, with both
senior Eric Reed and freshman Brian Perk available. He commented
that both had a good practice Monday, and he will hold off on the
decision until Thursday when there was more training time to
compare the two.