Tuesday, October 7, 1997
Bruins tough out two beatings for wins
SOCCER: Cal Poly and San Jose State unable to sustain second
half pace
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
David and Goliath is a story intended to give hope to the
underdog. If the UCLA men’s soccer team is college soccer’s
equivalent of Goliath, then Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO) and San
Jose State attempted to fill in the role of the upset-minded David
this past weekend. But their efforts more closely resembled
throwing crumpled pieces of paper rather than stones.
Cal Poly SLO (3-7, 0-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) and
San Jose State (4-6) came out pushing and shoving in a feeble
attempt to break up UCLA’s poise. The strategy worked for the first
30 minutes in both cases, but by the end, both teams were sent
packing with 3-0 defeats at the hands of the Bruins (9-1, 1-0
MPSF).
"As long as we feud off that first 15-20 minutes and just take
the onslaught they’re going to go back to their normal game, and
we’re going to go back to our normal game," sophomore midfielder
Pete Vagenas said. "And then our talent will just overpower
them."
The Bruins faced an even tougher task in controlling the tempo
during these two games due to the absence in the lineup of Sasha
Victorine. Victorine is out for the season with a knee injury, and
his presence in the defensive midfield is sorely missed.
"It’s going to take some time to get used to (Victorine’s
absence)," said junior forward Seth George, UCLA’s leading scorer
with nine goals in 10 games. "Thirty minutes into the game we were
totally possessing everything, but in the first 30 minutes
(Victorine) was always there to relax everybody."
Vagenas is the man given the task of replacing the irreplaceable
Victorine. His performance this past weekend was rated highly by
UCLA coach Sigi Schmid. Schmid believes that Vagenas, like the rest
of the team, performed well on the field this past weekend.
Nevertheless, UCLA did not play a flawless game. However, as
Vagenas becomes more and more used to his new position the team
should improve greatly.
"It’s an adjustment for me moving back from attacking midfielder
because it is more defensive responsibility," Vagenas said. "But
with the guys up front I don’t think there is any defense that can
stop us … When you’re playing with so much talent around you, you
just fit in."
* * *
George, who was benched for the beginning of Friday night’s MPSF
opener because he was late to a team meeting, received his third
yellow card in Sunday’s match against San Jose State. The physical
nature of Sunday’s match prompted Schmid to bench his top forward
out of fear for an injury and the danger of another yellow card. If
George receives two more yellow cards, he will be forced to sit out
a game due to NCAA rules requiring a player with five yellow cards
to sit out one game.
* * *
Sunday’s match against San Jose State featured George’s eighth
and ninth goals of the season and reserve forward Martin Bruno
capped the scoring late in the match. But Saturday’s game was a bit
of an aberration as all three goals were scored by defensemen.
True freshman Carlos Bocanegra, who sat out Sunday’s game
because he was sick, opened the scoring on Saturday at 21:20. Then
two seniors, Kevin Coye and Josh Keller, scored at 37:36 and 84:52,
respectively, to cap off the scoring for the night. This marks the
second time all season that all the Bruin forwards have been shut
out in a game – the first being the shutout loss to the University
of Alabama, Birmingham.
"Whenever we’ve had a good team and been successful in terms of
getting into the Final Four and the NCAA’s, we’ve always been a
team that has players in the back who can score goals," Schmid
said. "When you have more people on the field who can score goals
you are just less predictable for the opponent."