Ryan Lee and Victor Munoz are from two different walks of life, let alone sides of Earth.
Born in Charlottesville, Va., and raised in Cleveland, Lee starred at Orange High School and played 35 games for the Ohio State men’s soccer team over the past two seasons, advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament last winter.
Munoz, a 21-year-old native of Madrid, Spain, spent eight years rising through the ranks of the youth team at Real Madrid, plus one at that of Celta de Vigo.
“When you reach the highest level of youth teams (in Spain),” Munoz said, “you have to either continue to play soccer at the highest level or you have to study. You cannot do both.”
And since he was dissatisfied with the contract offered to him by Celta de Vigo, Munoz chose instead to come to America to continue his soccer career and pursue a higher education at Iona.
While Munoz and Lee may lack similarities in their backgrounds, they do have one thing in common: They both transferred to UCLA to contend for a national championship with the rest of the No. 16 Bruins (2-2-1).
“The soccer here is second to none,” Lee said. “UCLA is one of those programs that has so much history and respect. That was a big draw.”
Though Lee has only cracked coach Jorge Salcedo’s starting lineup once through the first five games of the season, he said that he would prefer to be a role player on a team that can contend for a national championship than a more prominent player on a team that wasn’t in the national title picture.
“That wasn’t in our reach (at Ohio State),” Lee said. “But it’s the goal here every year at UCLA.”
Munoz, a sophomore attacking midfielder who brings both flair and vision to the Bruins when he’s on the field ““ last season, he was second in assists for Iona with five ““ envisions himself lifting the College Cup as well.
“I wanted to play here in the U.S. at the highest level, and I knew that UCLA has probably one of the top five programs here in soccer,” Munoz said.
Athletic hopes and aspirations aside, transferring from one school to another is never an easy ordeal, academically or socially.
“One of the hard things about transferring here was going away from my family and away from my friends,” Lee said.
“It’s always a pain in the butt for credits to transfer, and I was more ahead at (Ohio State) than I am here.”
But if the going ever seems to get too tough, Munoz and Lee can look to Matt Wiet, who was in their shoes a season ago.
Wiet, a center defender who is starting his second year for the Bruins after one at Indiana, said that while his new teammates may not be playing quite as much as they’re used to, they will get their opportunities.
“Keep working, and keep trying,” Wiet said. “(Munoz and Lee) are both really good, and it’s just a matter of time before they get their shot.”
Even though the Bruins sputtered out of the gate to start this season, Salcedo can be confident that he has two newcomers who are determined to help the team achieve the ultimate goal waiting in the wings.