NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin Freshman Tony
Lawson dribbles past Stanford’s Roger Levesque in No. 17
UCLA’s 1-0 overtime win over the top-ranked Cardinal. UCLA
10 USC 0 USC 0 USC 0
By Amanda Fletcher and Brian
Thompson
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
They didn’t want to make history, and with two wins on the
weekend, they probably won’t.
Going into the weekend, the UCLA men’s soccer team was
dangerously close to not qualifying for postseason play for the
first time since 1987. But their wins over No. 1 Stanford and
un-ranked Cal may have changed that.
“It was really crucial,” freshman Cliff McKinley
said of the team’s two wins. “It’s gonna be hard
for them to keep us out (of the NCAA tournament) now.”
UCLA has long been out of contention for one of the 12 automatic
tournament berths and four play-in spots, but with the wins, the
Bruins now have a chance at one of the 16 at-large bids.
But the victories signify more than a bid to the tournament.
They were also an incredible way to end conference play.
“It’s great that we’ve won two big games and
closed out the season,” senior defender and co-captain Ryan
Lee said.
Aside from their eight-game winning streak early in the season,
the weekend marked the first time in a long time that the Bruins
were able to tally back-to-back wins.
“The bottom line is that it’s been a little bit of a
barrier for us,” UCLA head coach Todd Saldaña said.
“But we put our minds to it to prepare for a future where
we’re not going to be allowed to win one and then lose one
and still go on.”
“In both games against Cal and Stanford we showed a lot
heart,” Lee said. “We really played for one another and
battled for each other.”
One huge factor to consider when thinking about the NCAAs is
strength of schedule. UCLA not only played powerhouse Santa Clara
and Pac-10 leader Washington, but beat two No. 1 teams: Indiana on
Sept. 2 and most recently, Stanford.
“We probably have the strongest schedule in the
West,” Saldaña said.
With that in mind, the Bruins will most likely receive an
invitation to the tournament. “I’d be shocked if we did
not,” Saldaña said.
It was all in their own hands and the No. 18 Bruins shaped their
own destiny Friday when they defeated the top-ranked Cardinal.
“For my career here, I got to put it up there with the
highlights,” senior McKinley Tennyson Jr. said about scoring
the game-winning penalty kick in the Stanford match. “To beat
a No. 1 team at the end of the season when we badly needed a big
win, and to do it in double overtime ““ I guess I can’t
ask for more.”
The game saw many near misses that could have given either team
a win, but by good play and sheer luck the game was forced into
overtime.
The Bruins finally put it away in the second overtime when a
long ball was sent to Tennyson, who beat three defenders only to be
taken down in the box. He was awarded a penalty kick and buried it
to the left of Adam Zapala, who dove the wrong way.
“I just got the urge to step up and do the business for
the team,” Tennyson said. “I wanted this
one.”
The win not only broke Stanford’s seven-game winning
streak, but also cost the Cardinal the Pac-10 title, which goes to
Washington.
Against Cal on Sunday a tendency to crowd the middle kept both
teams from establishing control.
But the scoring opportunities were there and Cal was the first
to capitalize when Chris Roner took a ball that was loose in
UCLA’s box and put it into the back of the net.
UCLA answered a minute later when McKinley put away an outside
shot after Tennyson’s shot deflected off Cal keeper Marco
Palmieri.
Two minutes into the second half the Bruins jumped ahead 2-1
when McKinley finished his second goal off a Tennyson cross. With
less than 15 minutes left in the match, Tennyson solidified the win
with a goal of his own. The goal and his previous assist put
Tennyson at 101 career points, ninth on UCLA’s all-time
list.
The Bruins will know what their future holds today after the
NCAA tournament draw at 12:30 p.m.