EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Sophomore
Adolfo Gregorio dribbles past a St. Mary’s
defender in UCLA’s 5-1 victory on Friday at the Pacific Soccer
Classic. UCLA d. St. Mary’s 5-1
UCLA ties S. Carolina 0-0
By Brian Thompson
Daily Bruin Reporter
They played stellar defense and fluid, controlling offense. They
were even dominant at times.
There was just one thing the UCLA men’s soccer team
couldn’t do on Sunday against No. 17 South Carolina ““
score a goal. But did the Bruins ever come close.
It took a header off the line by the Gamecocks to prevent
Adolpho Gregorio’s blast in the last minute of overtime from
going in, preserving a 0-0 tie in the final game of the 16th annual
Pacific Soccer Classic.
“We had our chances, but we couldn’t finish,”
said midfielder and co-captain Ryan Futagaki. “But our
defense was solid. That’s what we needed.”
Ever the perfectionists, the Bruins (7-6-3) were a tad
disappointed they didn’t come away with a “W” on
Sunday. Still, they turned out one of their finest all-around
performances of the year against a top team.
“It was a good effort,” defender Scot Thompson said.
“Of course we would have liked to win.”
The Bruins, with a 5-1 victory Friday against St. Mary’s
(5-7-1), earned four points in the tournament. The Gamecocks
(9-3-2), who beat Fullerton (6-7-1) Friday with a 2-0 score,
matched the Bruins on points, but UCLA claimed the tournament by
virtue of its plus-four goal differential.
Even after their solid win against the Gaels on Friday, which
was highlighted by a two-goal performance from midfielder Chadd
Davis, the Bruins approached the first half Sunday with tremendous
caution. The Bruins were comfortable sitting back and absorbing the
Gamecock attack.
Then, in the second half, the Bruins offense awakened. They
began to control the ball and the tempo, created threatening
scoring chances, and put South Carolina on its heels.
It isn’t a coincidence that the offensive resurgence
occurred when Futagaki was inserted at halftime.
Ever the vocal leader, Futagaki quickly got involved, going on
long runs down the wing, controlling possession in the midfield,
and testing South Carolina goalie Michael Bachmeyer with long
shots.
“(The game) seemed to change a little bit,” Futagaki
said of his arrival into the game. “Maybe because I had more
energy. I just tried to open more space for us and create more
opportunities.”
Futagaki, along with midfielders Gregorio and Mike Enfield, was
able to set up scoring chances on the Gamecocks’ end. But
their defense was as stingy as the Bruins’ defense, which
contained South Carolina’s potent offensive attack.
Overtime saw still more scoring chances on both ends. Early in
the period, Alex Yi’s header bounced off the crossbar and
Nelson Akwari’s rebound shot was scooped up by a diving
Bachmeyer.
Later in the overtime, the Gamecocks’ Jordan Quinn
actually beat UCLA goalie Zach Wells, but Quinn was ruled offside
and the goal was annulled.
But by far the best chance of the game came in the last minute,
when Gregorio’s blast off of a set piece was barely tipped by
Bachmeyer and then headed away from the goal by Gamecock defender
Jack Cummings.
“I luckily got my head on it and prevented a goal,”
Cummings said. “It was a struggle to the end, but we feel
like we did a good job.”
While victory was taken away from the Bruins, they still have
many positives to draw from the weekend. The defense looked as good
as ever, and the offense appear finally to be jump started.
“We created a lot of offense in this game,” Bruin
head coach Todd Saldaña said. “We were getting some
quality opportunities.
“I’m impressed with (South Carolina) as a
team,” he continued. “They throw a lot at you and play
a wide open soccer game. To see our defense hold up under that kind
of pressure is progress. Winning the tournament was the objective,
and we did that.”