Friday, November 14, 1997
UCLA ready to kick up dust with Stanford
M. SOCCER:
Team hopes for top seed in playoffs, reach for three-peat
titleBy Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
After what happened to the USC women’s soccer team on Tuesday,
the men’s soccer teams from both UCLA and Stanford will take the
opportunity to clinch an NCAA playoff spot very seriously.
The Women of Troy (16-3) were the only Top 25 team not to be
invited by the NCAA to the playoffs  largely because of a
lack of respect for West Coast soccer. So when No. 2 UCLA (16-2)
and No. 14 Stanford (13-3-2) walk onto Spaulding field with the
chance to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) title
and to receive an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, nothing
will be held back.
The Bruins, who are trying to become the first team to win three
straight MPSF titles, were denied a top seed last year and had to
play their first NCAA game at the hostile environment of Cal State
Fullerton.
"It’s not a secret that we were unhappy about having to go to
Fullerton last year," UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid said. "That’s
definitely not a secret. I thought that was a strange decision by
the selection committee."
Therefore, Schmid wants to maintain momentum and play well. A
strong showing against a struggling Cardinal team that has lost its
last three games by a combined score of 8-2 would certainly
strengthen UCLA’s bid for one of the top four seeds.
The game should be anything but easy, however, especially
considering Stanford at one point was 13-0-2, and ranked No. 2 in
the country in some polls.
Also, the 5-1 loss to Santa Clara suffered by Stanford was
called a fluke by Schmid. Schmid is well aware that Stanford goalie
Adam Zapala, the second best goalie in the Far West region with a
.59 goals against average and 12 shutouts, could pose a
problem.
"(Stanford doesn’t) give up many goals," Schmid said. "They play
it very tight … defensively. They play zone defense, and they try
to get eight guys behind the ball all the time. So they’re the kind
of team that we have to be patient with when they are back and
organized."
UCLA got into the MPSF title game by winning the MPSF Pacific
division in the final weekend of the regular season. A 3-2 loss by
Fullerton at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday gave UCLA the
opportunity to clinch the Pacific crown with a win on Sunday over
UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins did so with a commanding 6-1
victory.
"It all worked out at the end because I think we played pretty
consistently this year, and Fullerton, the other team that was in
contention, obviously was not as consistent as us," Schmid said.
"So the opportunity got presented to us and we were able to win on
Sunday."
With a win Sunday against the Cardinal, maybe the NCAA will
present the Bruins with a better opportunity than last year.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Seth George kicks the ball in a game against UCSB last week.