Men’s soccer looks to maintain offensive kick in Stanford rematch

It’s more of the same for the men’s soccer team this weekend. At least, the opponents will be.

Unranked UCLA (7-6-0, 3-2-0 Pac-12) will look for a different result when they travel north for a pair of matches against No. 3 Stanford (11-1-1, 4-0-1) and unranked California (5-5-2, 0-3-2). The Bruins fell to the Cardinal in a narrow 2-1 loss last Friday before stomping the Golden Bears 6-0 three days later.

With such a quick turnaround, the team knows just what to expect from its upcoming opponents.

“Stanford will again be a very dynamic, hard-working, direct team that’ll go for it and really make us fight for a win,” said junior defender Michael Amick. “And then, on the other hand, we’ll play Cal, which is a very opposite style – more possessive of the ball. It just lends itself to two types of soccer games, two types of battles this weekend.”

Despite out-shooting the visitors 15-6 at Drake Stadium, UCLA couldn’t get out of its own way, committing minor errors which Stanford capitalized on. A Bruin goal with less than 10 minutes remaining by freshman midfielder Jose Hernandez was also controversially negated when the linesman ruled senior forward Larry Ndjock offside.

The frustration was evident following the heated game, but there were still positives for a team that has battled ups and downs for the entire 2015 season.

“We kept possession, we did very well to move the ball,” redshirt senior defender Edgar Contreras said following the loss. “This team, they pressed us a lot, and it was pretty difficult to move the ball but we were able to.”

UCLA did own the possession battle, finding open gaps when possible. Sophomore forward Abu Danladi got the team’s best chance, and capitalized in the opening minutes of the second half. But that was all the Bruins would legally get, as the Cardinal and their star striker Jordan Morris escaped with the narrow victory. The junior has scored in his past five collegiate matches, including netting the game-winner in Westwood.

Stanford is not alone in utilizing dynamic forwards. Danladi continued his torrid pace in the next game against Cal, scoring two more goals to bring his season total up to four. Both tallies on Monday night were shows of elite athleticism, as the Bruin forward used his raw speed to run circles around the Golden Bear defenders.

In addition, fellow sophomore forward Seyi Adekoya continues to pace the Pac-12 with eight goals on the season. Before last Friday’s game, associate head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt said that UCLA would need to use its speed to overcome a suffocating Stanford defense.

“We were working on a lot of central combination play, trying to get the ball forward and then trying to get in behind teams,” he said. “Stanford’s a very good defensive team … so just different ideas of how to attack them on different parts of the field, and how to rotate and circulate the ball quickly.”

Both Adekoya and Danladi have been sidelined with minor injuries over the past few weeks, so their health will be crucial to the effectiveness of the team’s league-leading offense.

Stanford sits atop the Pac-12 standings with 13 points, but UCLA is a mere four points behind in second place. To continue their comeback season, the Bruins will need to duplicate what worked against the Cardinal, while also shoring up the mistakes that held them back.

“We outplayed them, I would say, in our first game,” Amick said. “We just need to make sure we get the right result this time.”