CHRIS BACKLEY Senior McKinley Tennyson
Jr. maneuvers the ball away from Washington opponents in a
game earlier this season.
By Brian Thompson
Daily Bruin Reporter
The season, along with the college careers of five seniors,
could prematurely come to an end this weekend for the UCLA
men’s soccer team.
This weekend could, however, serve as the springboard that
launches the No. 18 Bruins into a run at the College Cup.
One thing is for certain: UCLA’s playoff aspirations hinge
on Friday’s match-up against No. 1 Stanford
(15-1-1, 5-1-0 Pac-10) and Sunday’s Pac-10 finale against
California (6-11-1, 2-3-1).
UCLA (10-6-0, 1-5-0) dropped both its previous contests this
year against the Cardinal and the Bears. The difference is, those
games were on the road. This weekend’s games are at Drake
Stadium, where the Bruins have lost only once the entire year.
“Obviously, we’ve kind of dug ourselves a hole in
the past couple of weeks, but it’s not from playing
bad,” forward McKinley Tennyson Jr. said, referring to
UCLA’s recent 2-6-0 skid. “We’ve had some unlucky
games and a couple of lapses at crucial parts of the game.
“It’s put us in a position where we have to beat
Stanford, and we also have to finish up by beating Cal in order to
give us a pretty solid chance of making the playoffs.”
Friday’s game against the top-ranked Cardinal is
particularly interesting. The first game this year between the two
schools resulted in UCLA’s first loss of the season on Oct.
8. Since that time, both teams have gone in dramatically different
directions.
While UCLA has slumped, Stanford has surged. The Cardinal has
risen to the top of the Pac-10 standings, as well as the top of the
national rankings.
In recent action, Stanford handed defending national champion
Indiana a 1-0 loss last Saturday. As its win total rises, so does
the team’s confidence.
“This team itself knows how good we actually are and we
don’t need rankings to tell us where we are at,”
Cardinal midfielder Ryan Nelson told the Stanford Daily. “But
at the same time, it is great to beat the teams that get the
recognition.”
The Bruins are now in the unfamiliar role of being the underdogs
this Friday. Bruin head coach Todd Saldaña, however, remains
confident.
“In terms of giving ourselves a chance to still be
selected for the playoffs, you couldn’t have a better
opponent to beat to make a statement,” he said.
“We couldn’t have a better opportunity to beat a
quality team to give ourselves the confidence we need going into
the NCAAs, should we get there.”
Should the Bruins get past the Cardinal, that will make
Sunday-Senior Day all the more special with the playoff invitation
possibly on the line.
Prior to kickoff, UCLA will honor outgoing seniors Tennyson,
Brian Foote, Ryan Lee, Shaun Tsakiris and Caleb Westbay. These five
certainly don’t want Sunday’s game to be their last in
a UCLA uniform.
While Cal has struggled, one of its six wins was over the Bruins
on Oct. 20. And if the Bruins have learned anything this year,
it’s to not overlook an opponent. With so much on the line,
the sense of urgency could be a positive for UCLA.
“The most important thing for us is to continue to stay
positive and optimistic,” said Saldaña. “Our
weaknesses have only been mostly on set plays, corner kicks, dead
ball situations.
“But we’ve controlled a lot of the play in most of
our matches. It’s just been the little things. Our attention
to detail this weekend is going to be very important. But, we have
to continue to play the way we know how to play.”
If the Bruins do just that ““ play the way they know how to
play ““ then this weekend may not be their last.