Hat trick by Victor Chavez secures Bruin win against Oregon State
Victor Chavez recorded a hat trick in Sunday’s match against Oregeon State, making him the first UCLA freshman to score three goals in a game since 1986.
By Daniel Khayat
Oct. 6, 2010 1:09 a.m.
What can you do in five minutes?
You can check your Facebook page, hurriedly get dressed and dash out of your dorm room after oversleeping on the day of a midterm, score three goals in an NCAA Division I soccer match, find a lost sock, or heat up that leftover chicken that’s been in the refrigerator for who knows how long.
One of those things is not like the others. One of those things, quite frankly, doesn’t belong.
Yet the oddball inclusion in this particular list of accomplishments accurately sums up Victor Chavez’s Sunday afternoon, when he netted a hat trick in the span of 267 seconds to propel the UCLA men’s soccer team to a 4-1 victory over Oregon State, all with a case of the common cold.
“I was surprised,” Chavez said. “Excited. Happy. I was everything at the same time. Coming in, I expected to score, but I wasn’t expecting to score three.”
The freshman forward was subsequently named both the Pac-10 Men’s Soccer Player of the Week and the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week.
His hat trick was UCLA’s first since Maxwell Griffin’s clinic against Penn State three years ago, and the first by a Bruin freshman since 1986, when Lucas Martin fired three goals past Loyola Marymount.
One would think that after achieving such a feat, Chavez would get preferential treatment from his coaches and teammates in practice the next day.
That was not the case.
“He probably gets beat up a little bit more,” sophomore midfielder/forward Ryan Hollingshead said jokingly.
“We were just all stoked for Victor. He’s been working his butt off up top for us, so to have something to back up his work was awesome. He’s such a hard worker, he gets right back out there. He’s not conceited, he doesn’t really look at those goals. He’s just looking to get back out in training.”
Chavez came on as a substitute in the 43rd minute with the No. 20 Bruins (7-2-1, 2-0-0 Pac-10) holding on to a tenuous 1-0 lead.
The freshman forward took five minutes to warm up and forget about his head cold, then proceeded to unleash a lightning-fast flurry of goals to stun the Beavers and give the Bruins an insurmountable 4-0 advantage.
“Something’s been going around,” Chavez said about his ailment. “I talked to a couple of kids on my floor that have it. You can hear it in my voice. I wasn’t really feeling that great in the first half. It was a little bit difficult, but more than anything, it was kind of a lesson that it’s more mental than physical.”
Chavez’s nose may have been stuffy and his throat congested, but his positive attitude would not be dampened, according to coach Jorge Salcedo.
“When we practiced on Monday, he was still smiling from the three goals he scored on Sunday,” Salcedo said.
UCLA takes on No. 22 San Diego State (7-2-1, 1-1-0) on Saturday at Drake Stadium in its last home match before taking off for a road trip to Northern California next weekend.
