By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It’s Chemistry 101 for the UCLA men’s soccer team as
they attempt to blend old and new talent to form another winning
season.
This week they will test themselves in two exhibition games. On
Wednesday Aug. 23 the Bruins face Westmont College at Drake Stadium
and then on Saturday Aug. 26 they battle Loyola Marymount
University on their campus.
Though these games will not count toward their season record,
the two matches will provide a litmus test for a Bruin squad that
lost 10 players from last season and is looking at 11 new
faces.
“We’re still in the first couple days and trying to
build a little chemistry,” head coach Todd Saldaña
said.
Among the 10 players who graduated from last year’s squad
were current Olympic team member Pete Vagenas and 1999 NSCAA Player
of the Year Sasha Victorine.
Including Vagenas and Victorine, who both play for the L.A
Galaxy, two other starters moved on the to the MLS. Former sweeper
and No. 1 draft pick Steve Shak now plays with the New York/New
Jersey MetroStars and defender Carlos Bocanegra left UCLA a year
early as the No. 4 pick to play for the Chicago Fire.
Despite the loss of so much talent, this year’s squad is
ready to get the ball rolling.
“It’s an exhibition game but we’re going to
treat it like a regular season game,” senior midfielder Shaun
Tsakirsis said.
Though UCLA defeated both teams last year, neither match will be
easy. In their last two meetings, LMU took UCLA into overtime both
times.
“Teams like LMU and Westmont, they’re dying to prove
themselves against a team like UCLA,” Saldaña said.
Some UCLA players are more confident than others. While
Tsakirsis is uncertain how the team will perform stating that he
doesn’t know how they’ll do, there is no question in
sophomore defender Scot Thompson’s mind of UCLA’s
dominance, now and in the future.
“I expect to kill both of these teams. Not to be cocky or
anything, but I think we’ll be a good team this year,”
he said.
Ten players may be a lot to lose, but the new and returning
talent should fill in nicely.
Leading this year’s team are Tsakirsis and senior forward
McKinley Tennyson Jr., who were both selected as pre-season
All-Americans by College Soccer Online.
Tsakirsis, who was named to the second-team, was a first-team
All-MPSF Pacific division player last year. He led the Bruins and
the league in assists with 13.
Tennyson, who was an honorable mention pick, tied for leading
scorer in the league with 18 goals and was named second-team
all-conference last season.
Add returning senior defender Ryan Lee, a second team
all-conference pick last year, to the equation and the Bruins have
the experience of three 1997 national title players controlling the
middle of the field.
Also returning to the line-up is junior midfielder Ryan
Futagaki, a 1999 Pan-Am Games bronze medalist and a member of the
under-23 USA national team.
Not to be left out on the bench, the incoming class is full of
talent itself.
Of the 10 freshman and one transfer, eight have national team
experience and four were part of the record setting under-17 USA
National Team that placed fourth in the World Championships in
1999.
With one part seasoned talent and one part fresh, this
year’s soccer team looks like they’ve got a winning
formula.