Snitko stifles opponents for m. soccer

Snitko stifles opponents for m. soccer

UCLA goalkeeper

moving to the top,

Bruins rise in polls

By Tim Costner

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

As the UCLA men’s soccer team climbed from No. 10 to No. 7 in
the national rankings last week, UCLA goalie Chris Snitko moved up
from fourth in the country to second.

Not that he cares.

"It’s good that we’re starting to get some shutouts and put it
together a little bit," Snitko said. "Stats aren’t really an issue
as long as we’re 10-1 right now and as long we keep on winning. If
I don’t give up any goals, we can’t lose. It’s a good thing to have
a low goals-against-average. It’s what every goalkeeper shoots
for."

Snitko currently boasts a .41 GAA, second behind Brett
Rosenberger of DePaul, who has a .32 average. Snitko, however, has
played in over 300 minutes more than Rosenberger. But he still
maintains his humility.

"I think I’ve come a long way in the fours years that I’ve been
here," Snitko said. "I’ve been working harder this year than I have
in the past. Maybe at the end of the year I’ll get a shot with the
Under-23 team, if things keep going well. But I’d rather give up a
bad goal and win 2-1 than play the game of my life and lose or tie.
It’s all about winning."

* * *

Although Snitko leads most other goalies in
goals-against-average, no one on the Bruins is among the top 20 in
scoring.

But with UCLA’s depth and diversity on offense, that somehow
makes sense.

"We never had (a scoring leader)," UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid
said. "Joe-Max Moore was there for us a little bit, but we’re a
team that relies on more than one person scoring, and as a result
of that, our scoring’s a little bit harder to figure out."

Currently, forward Ante Razov leads the Bruins with 16 points on
six goals and four assists. Razov has been heating up recently,
notching a goal or at least an assist in five of UCLA’s last six
matches.

Eddie Lewis is second on the team with 12 points (five goals,
three assists), while defender Frankie Hejduk is third with nine
points (four goals, one assist).

Twenty-six points is the lowest total among the nation’s top
20.

"You have to look at who we play against," Schmid said. "We also
have some depth. If we’re leading three or four to nothing, then
we’re going to take people out of the game. Individual awards have
never been our thing. We want to get the team awards at the end of
the year."

* * *

Injury update: UCLA will lose midfielder Caleb Meyer for about
two weeks after Meyer sprained his ankle last weekend.

Razov and midfielder Justin Selander suffered minor injuries
last week but should recover for this weekend’s games.