ANNA AVIK Freshman midfielder Joey
Yusunas attempts to gain control of the soccer ball during
a game against St. Mary’s last Sunday afternoon.
By Brian Thompson
Daily Bruin Reporter
History indicates that the UCLA men’s soccer team should
not have any trouble in its game Sunday. After all, the Bruins hold
a commanding 24-1-2 all-time mark against its next opponent.
That opponent is Stanford, one of UCLA’s biggest West
Coast rivals. But the Cardinal doesn’t worry too much about
all-time records. The past is the past.
Here, in the year 2000, the Cardinal (8-0-1) is quickly climbing
the national polls and garnering attention from the collegiate
soccer world.
Stanford has cracked the top 5 in two polls, with Soccer America
putting the team at No. 4 and SoccerTimes.com ranking the Cardinal
at No. 5. The NSCAA poll has them at a respectable No. 12.
So, any way you put it, Sunday’s game at Stanford’s
new Maloney Field is a big game for the consensus No. 1 team in the
nation, UCLA (8-0-0).
“We’ve had a few strong days of practice,”
said Bruin captain Ryan Lee.
“I think we’re starting to climb out of a valley. We
were kind of in a lull. We were practicing at one pace, and it
seems like it’s been picking up this week,” he
said.
And senior midfielder Shaun Tsakiris has also noticed that his
squad has stepped up its intensity this week. After all,
Sunday’s game isn’t just against a ranked team,
it’s also against one of UCLA’s new conference rivals.
The game will be UCLA’s first-ever Pac-10 Conference
game.
“We only have one game this week, and usually we have two
games in a week,” Tsakiris said. “We know it’s a
big game. I think we’re all excited.”
Stanford is off to its best start since the 1997 season, which
they began with a 13-0-2 mark. UCLA will be facing the
nation’s No. 1 rated offense (4.2 goals per game) and No. 1
rated defense (0.11 goals against average).
In fact, Cardinal goalkeeper Adam Zapala has only yielded one
goal the entire season. Their back line is led by defender Lee
Morrison, who is a nominee for both the Hermann Trophy and MAC
Award.
Offensively, Stanford boasts five players who are in
double-digits in the point column. Of those five, midfielder Scott
Leber leads the Cardinal with nine goals and three assists.
Last weekend, Stanford won its home tournament, the
Stanford/Nike Invitational. Not only did they win both of their
games, they destroyed their opposition. They beat Seton Hall last
Friday 5-0 and won the championship game last Sunday over
Cincinnati 4-0.
Before playing UCLA on Sunday, Stanford will commence its
conference season today versus Washington.
“It’s a great start, but for any good team to
survive the season they must keep building on each
performance,” Cardinal forward Luke Rust told the Stanford
Daily.
Rust has three game-winning goals on the year and was named
Offensive MVP of the Stanford/Nike Invitational.
“Great teams can come out of a weekend like we had and
still find room for improvement,” he added. “I think
everyone on the team knows that the hardest part of the weekend
still lies ahead and there is still a lot we can work on if we want
to go all the way.”
Of course, if Stanford is to go all the way, it will have to go
through UCLA. The Bruins struggled a bit in the first half last
Sunday against St. Mary’s and actually found themselves
trailing at the half. But most attribute that play to the food
poisoning that struck the team a few days before rather than to a
lack of focus.
While both sides recognize the importance of Sunday’s
match-up, Lee has tried to keep things in perspective for his
teammates.
“Our short-term goal is to win each game that’s
upcoming, but our long-term goal is always to prepare for the
tournament and have us playing our best soccer for the
tournament,” the defender said. “This is just another
steppingstone for us. We hope to continue to win all of our games
and if that means we win our conference, we win our conference.
“But our ultimate goal is to win a national
championship.”
The quest for national championship number four continues in
Palo Alto this weekend. Tagged as the No. 1 team in the nation, the
Bruins know that everyone is gunning for them.
And Stanford believes it can step up to the challenge.