Monday, October 12, 1998
Goalkeeper blocks Stanford from win
REVIEW: Intense game against northern rivals results in UCLA
victory
By Scott Street
Daily Bruin Contributor
In Brazil, there is a love affair between fans and their soccer
players, so much so that many of them are referred to by only one
name. At UCLA, a similar respect is growing. The name: Rimando.
Spurred once again by the sensational play of goaltender Nick
Rimando, defending national champion UCLA defeated No. 8 Stanford
1-0 Friday night in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF)
opener before 1,184 at Spaulding Field.
The win moved the second-ranked Bruins to 8-1 overall (1-0 MPSF)
and extended their home winning streak to 28 games, the longest
current streak in the NCAA.
The game began with both teams eager to continue what has become
an annual battle of the West Coast’s two best teams.
Stanford threatened first at the five-minute mark, with
sophomore Corey Woolfolk firing a shot at the lower left-hand
corner  which Rimando saved. A little more than four minutes
later, Rimando worked his magic again. The Bruins turned the ball
over at midfield, and with Woolfolk streaking alone towards the
Bruin goal, Rimando raced back to net. He then slipped trying to
get position, but managed to scramble, regain his balance, and
deflect Woolfolk’s shot wide right.
‘I got caught out,’ Rimando said. ‘He (Woolfolk) read it pretty
well and I was going to come out and get it but then I thought it
was 50-50 that he would get there before me. I tried to get back,
slipped, and thought he was going to beat me so I got up as quick
as I could and went after it.’
The capacity crowd on hand roared its approval afterwards, and
the save seemed to light a fire under the Bruins’ offense.
For the next four minutes UCLA attacked the Stanford goal,
barely missing twice, before Carlos Bocanegra scored on a header
from Shaun Tsakiris at 13:31.
‘We’ve been working on that in practice before, where Shaun
(Tsakiris) will curl the ball in, and I just came in from behind
and it was right there for my head,’ said Bocanegra. ‘We were
really hyped up for this game. It was our first big test, so we
were all pumped up.’
Stanford has proven to be one of the nation’s toughest defensive
teams this year, giving up only four goals and shutting out seven
opponents. But with precision passing and ball control in the
Stanford zone, the Bruins managed to create scoring opportunities
for themselves throughout the game, including Bocanegra’s
header.
From there it was up to Rimando, who registered his seventh
shutout of the season. The Cardinal’s offensive intensity picked up
after Bocanegra’s score, continually attacking the Bruin net.
Thirty-four minutes into the game, Rimando made yet another
spectacular save, leaping in the air to deflect a Stanford free
kick. And at the sixty-minute mark, the Bruin goalkeeper was tested
once more by the Woolfolk who fired quickly at the lower left goal
post, but right into the hands of Rimando.
‘They came a lot,’ said Bocanegra. ‘We kind of just bunkered in
and tried to clear everything out. Nick saved us a couple times,
but we got the breaks.’
‘We just tried to box out and play a little defense,’ Rimando
added.
‘We tried to adjust (to Stanford’s momentum),’ Bruin coach Sigi
Schmid said. ‘But it hurt us losing Tommy Poltl. He’s somebody
who’s very good for us at winning balls back at mid-field and
that’s where we lost a little bit of (the) mid-field when we
weren’t able to win those balls back.’
Poltl was injured in the second half on a tackle when his leg
was stepped on.
Stanford’s luck finally turned in the seventy-third minute, when
a flood of Stanford players in the goalie’s box managed to sneak a
goal past Rimando. But the referee ruled a hand ball by the
Cardinal in the box and waved off the score. Rimando would be
tested twice more and again conserve the Bruin lead.
‘It’s always a very tough game,’ Schmid said afterwards.
‘Stanford is a very good team. They’re very disciplined and don’t
make many mistakes.’
Stanford coach Bobby Clarke was equally impressed with the play
of the Bruins.
‘I thought we played a very strong game. We certainly had our
share of chances,’ the Cardinal coach noted. ‘You have to
compliment their goalkeeper; he was tremendous. UCLA is a very good
team; very well-organized. I thought we deserved a little more out
of it, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.’
UCLA has defeated the Cardinal three-straight times and has
dominated the series overall 22-1-3, although recently the
victories have been anything but easy.
Last year, the Bruins defeated Stanford 1-0 in the MPSF
Championship game.
The two teams hope to meet later this season  in the NCAA
Final Four.
The game was very physical and the referees let many borderline
fouls go unchecked, issuing only one yellow card to Tsakiris at
38:42.
‘It was pretty rough,’ Bocanegra said. ‘Stanford goes after the
ball and they get pretty rough in the box. They’re tall and
physical and a good team.’
‘Stanford is a hard team,’ Schmid added.
‘They play very physical, probably more physical than we usually
do.
‘We’ve had this referee before and he tends to let things go. We
had to step up to that level in the second half and we did.’
‘If we do everything properly, I think we are going to have a
chance at UCLA somewhere along the line,’ said Coach Clarke.
The Cardinals may have had revenge on their mind with the recent
defeats to UCLA.
‘Teams are always going to be up for us,’ Schmid noted.
‘They’re coming onto our field, it’s the league opener and we
beat them last year, so they had a little more motivation.’
That motivation may have been replaced by frustration after the
dazzling saves by Rimando in the first 10 minutes.
‘It’s always a great boost when your goalkeeper, Nick Rimando,
comes up with a big save like he did,’ said Schmid. ‘He’s one of
the best goalkeepers in the country. What’s great about Nick is
that he always makes saves when the game is on the line.’
Added Bocanegra: ‘He’s awesome. I was scared (on the breakaway)
but we have a lot of confidence in him, that he can stop
anything.’
With seven shutouts in nine games, Rimando has Bruin fans and
opponents saying the same thing.PATRICK LAM
Garrett Jansma fails to steal the ball from Bruin Sasha
Victorine during the UCLA 1-0 win over Stanford.
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