UCLA men’s soccer kicks off season with high expectations

No. 9 UCLA will kick off the 2013 season and the pursuit of three straight Pac-12 titles with a non-conference match against No. 7 Notre Dame in Bloomington, Ind., this Friday.

Voted by NCAA coaches in a preseason poll as the favorite to win the Pac-12 conference, the Bruins will not only try to match, but also exceed, their preseason expectations.

“We expect to win the Pac-12, we hold ourselves to no lower standards,” said senior forward Reed Williams. “We just kind of expect that from ourselves to continue that tradition and focus on national championships.”

In addition to winning the Pac-12 the past two years, the Bruins have also laid their claim on the title four of the last five years.

Yet, last season ended with redshirt junior goalkeeper Earl Edwards face down on the grass, with the ball just a couple feet behind him in the goal, after a disappointing 5-2 defeat to San Diego in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Almost a year later, Edwards has not forgotten the taste of the grass that night.

“I think that it’s a good tool to help motivate us this season,” Edwards said. “We’re not dwelling on it, but it’s in the back of our minds and it’s pushing us to do better this year.”

The motivation has already begun, with recent double days of practice. Williams said that the memory of how last season ended helps him fight through the hot sun and the sore muscles.

“You think about last season and what happened in the playoffs and it makes me want to work harder and push harder and to be able to have a better year,” Williams said. “It kind of stings, but it’s something you can grow from and we learned a lot from that game.”

To improve from last year, UCLA will have to find a way to replace six seniors, including Pac-12 Player of the Year Ryan Hollingshead, who scored a team high seven goals.

With the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the nation, Williams said that the void left by last year’s senior class has been filled so well by the freshmen and transfers that the team has become much deeper than last year’s squad.

“We can easily field two teams that would compete, which is great,” Williams said. “All of our scrimmages are highly competitive, every drill is highly competitive, which is great because that only helps us.”

Because of this depth, even with less than a week before the season opener against Notre Dame, the starting lineup hasn’t been decided yet. Practices remain hotly competitive as players vie for starting spots

With all the competition, Edwards said that it should help keep the team focused on the next day instead of looking too far ahead, an issue that he feels the team has had trouble with in the past.

Whether it is the Pac-12 title, the NCAA tournament or the match with defending NCAA champion Indiana just two days after the season opener, right now all eyes are on Notre Dame.

“Obviously, it’s hard to ignore the fact that we’re playing the defending national champions two days later, but our focus is to get the first result and deal with that game when we get there,” Edwards said. “I think this year we’re really focusing on taking it one game at a time, so Notre Dame is our focus right now.”

Compiled by Derrek Li, Bruin Sports contributor.