The Bruins look to have the best chance of winning the Pac-12.
But to solidify that prospect, they’ll need to deliver amid Senior Day and back-to-back doubleheaders with UCLA women’s soccer.
UCLA men’s soccer (6-3-3, 3-0-2 Pac-12) will see Washington (5-5-5, 2-3-2) on Thursday and Oregon State (6-5-3, 3-1-3) on Sunday in its final two regular-season matches at Wallis Annenberg Stadium this season.
“I think it’s a great opportunity, mainly for the fans, because they’ll be able to stick around and watch both games,” said graduate student midfielder Ryan Becher. “The women’s team is obviously one of the best – if not the best in the country – and they definitely pull a good crowd.”
The Bruins’ Senior Day on Sunday will potentially mark the last game their graduating players will play in Westwood.
So while the team is hoping to have a few home games in the postseason, senior defender Grayson Doody said the celebration before Sunday’s affair will be bittersweet.
“It’s weird to accept, I’ve got to say. I haven’t really settled into the idea of it being one of the last games I play at Wally (Wallis Annenberg Stadium),” Doody said. “It’ll be crazy walking out and having the Senior Day ceremony after I’ve seen all of the previous seniors do the same walk and never thinking that actually might be me.”
Washington will come to Westwood on Thursday following a tie against Stanford and a loss to California last weekend. UCLA pulled off the win in its last competition with Washington with a four-goal performance – marking its first victory in Washington since 2017.
UCLA’s previous performance against Oregon State saw the teams split the goalscoring across both halves, with the Beavers scoring 37 seconds in and UCLA converting two chances within an eight-minute span in the second half to pull the game back to a draw.
Last weekend, the Beavers saw their first Pac-12 loss of the year in a 4-0 trouncing to the Cardinal, leaving the Bruins as the only undefeated team left in the conference.
Coach Ryan Jorden said set pieces are crucial for the team to continue to focus on after both goals from last weekend were the products of set pieces.
“You’ve got to be good at set pieces because Stanford scores the first two from set pieces, Cal scores their two against Washington from set pieces,” Jorden said. “So you have to be able to defend them, and you’ve got to be able to try to aggressively take opportunities when you have a chance to put balls into the danger area.”
Becher said another key this weekend will be limiting early goals, which have previously set UCLA back.
“The goal for us is to just be smart within the early parts of the game and not give up early goals, which we’ve done the last couple of games,” Becher said. “So hopefully we can just shore those things up and take advantage of opportunities going the other way.”
Holding second place by one point, UCLA has the advantage over first-place Oregon State in games played. Following Oregon State and Washington’s two contests this weekend, the Pacific Northwest foes will only have one game – against each other – remaining.
If UCLA does emerge from this weekend with both victories for the full six points, it will only need to win one more game across its final three road contests in order to win the Pac-12.
And, it would mark the Bruins’ first conference title in over a decade.
Many questions will be answered in the Pac-12 this weekend, but two victories would give the Bruins a chance to control their own destiny.
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