Wednesday, December 3, 1997
Bruin victory in close game repeats history
M. SOCCER:
UCLA takes big step towards Final Four by winning second-to-last
game of seasonBy Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
When the No. 2 Bruins took the field against No. 4 Washington on
Monday in only the second round of the NCAA tournament, memories of
1985 flashed in the mind of UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid.
"The story I told the team (before the game) was that back in
’85, when we won the (NCAA) title, we played a game in the second
round against a team from UNLV," Schmid explained. "At that point
ourselves and UNLV should not have met in that round because we
were probably two of the best teams in the country."
Monday’s game, which was postponed Sunday because of rain, also
reminded Schmid of the game against the Running Rebels because the
weather was similar. But could the Bruins repeat the 1985 feat and
win their second-round game? Yes.
Bruin forward Seth George scored the only goal of the match in
the 16th minute and the UCLA defense survived an all-out attack
from the Huskies in the final 45 minutes to hold on for a 1-0
victory  the same margin of victory as the 1985 UNLV playoff
game.
"That’s the most pressure I’ve faced," said Bruin defender Jimmy
Conrad, who started in place of Kevin Coye. (Coye is out for the
season with a knee injury suffered in the first round of the
playoffs.) "It was pretty intense pressure, but that’s what it’s
all about. If you’re not ready to accept that challenge, then you
shouldn’t be out here."
"When we were sending the balls out, it just felt like
everything was coming right back at us," UCLA defender Carlos
Bocanegra said.
There was a feeling-out period early in the match before the
Bruins began pressuring the experienced Husky team  a team
with 10 returning starters. When George scored from a cross by
fellow forward McKinley Tennyson Jr., the Bruins seemed very much
in command. But Husky head coach Dean Wurzberger, who was an
assistant at UCLA from 1986-88, subbed in forward Rees Bettinger in
the 28th minute to add a third forward to the lineup.
What ensued a couple of minutes later was complete and utter
chaos.
After Washington sent in a corner kick, both forward Ian Russell
and defender Craig Waibel had a chance to score for Washington from
point-blank range, but the ball deflected up into the air off UCLA
midfielder Nick Paneno. As Bruin defender Josh Keller was about to
head the ball out, Russell, who appeared to be pushed in the back
by Bocanegra, punched the ball into the net.
After a conference between the main official and the sideline
official, the goal was overturned.
"I thought we did everything we could today," Wurzberger said.
"Unlike last year (in Washington’s 3-1 victory over UCLA), where I
thought we went through a period where we just lost our way, we
threw everything at them."
The Bruins looked like they were defensive in the second half,
but Schmid emphasized that was due to the Husky strategy of using
three forwards for much of the game and four forwards in the last
20 minutes.
Washington did get seven shots on the Bruin’s goal during the
second half, but UCLA senior goalie Matt Reis made a couple of
sprawling saves.
Although the stats only credited Reis with two saves, Schmid had
praise for his goalkeeper.
"It got kind of hectic back there with them pushing all the
people up," Reis, who recorded his third shutout in a row, said.
"Everybody in front of me played amazing. The shots that they did
have, most of them were deflected."
The Bruins will now play unseeded Clemson on Saturday at 1 pm.
The game will be at Spaulding Field and will be the last game UCLA
will host this year, with the Final Four taking place in Richmond,
Va.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin
Tom Poltl, shown playing against FSU, and UCLA host their last
game of the season against Clemson in the third round of the NCAA
Tournament.