Often times when teams aren’t able to control every aspect of their destiny, they tend to fail to compete at the highest level.
When the California Bears clinched the Pac-10 title with a 3-2 victory against Stanford last week, things could have gone south for UCLA with a lackadaisical effort.
“Unfortunately, even though our record is outstanding, we hoped that we could (control our destiny) after Thursday,” coach Jorge Salcedo said.
But for captain junior Andy Rose, UCLA had more to prove and always something to play for.
“Obviously, the fact that we couldn’t win the Pac-10 was in the back of our mind, but to be honest, we’re just playing for that top seed,” he said.
With the NCAA Selection Committee revealing the seedings this afternoon, UCLA could have easily overlooked a San Diego State team that has given the Bruins some trouble in the past.
Last year, the Bruins could have solidified their spot as a top-four seed in the tourney with a win against the Aztecs, but the game ended in a disappointing 2-2 tie, and UCLA wound up as a No. 6 seed.
“We knew that last year, we slipped up a bit against San Diego State and Oregon State,” Rose said. “We understood more what it meant this year and how vital it was to get a win, and hopefully, (the win against SDSU) will bump us a few spots in the ranking.”
The No. 8 Bruins (14-4-1, 8-2 Pac-10) headed into the match on Saturday with little more than one objective: to make a statement against the Aztecs (10-7-2, 3-6-1). And they certainly did.
Rose scored his first goal of the season in the seventh minute off a penalty kick, while forwards sophomore Chandler Hoffman and freshman Reed Williams added second-half goals for a 3-1 UCLA victory.
Perhaps losing the shot at a Pac-10 title served as extra motivation rather than a distraction for the Bruins.
“Winning (the Pac-10 championship) the past two years made it tough to swallow this year’s loss,” Rose said.
“Hopefully, we can see (Cal) again in the tournament. We think we are the better team, so it’d be great to play against them again.”
Consider this a reminder to not just Cal and the selection committee, but future opponents that the Bruins may face.
Pressure will increase, but the Bruins remain optimistic heading into the postseason.
“We are definitely not afraid of anyone,” Rose said. “We’ve got a great amount of confidence, we are having a great time playing with each other, so hopefully we’ve got a few matches left in us.”