Team’s confidence high, ready for tough games
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 18, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 KELSEY RETTING The UCLA men’s soccer team goes
head-to-head against Washington and Oregon State in matches this
weekend.
By Jon Corwin
Daily Bruin Contributor
Coming off their best weekend of the season, the UCLA
men’s soccer team will look to continue their hot streak as
they hit the road to take on No. 4 Washington and Oregon State this
weekend.
The Bruins (6-4-2 overall, 2-0-0 Pac-10) will clash with
Washington, the reigning conference champs, on Friday.
The Huskies (9-1-0, 1-0-0) have won the past four meetings
between the two schools and are in the midst of an impressive
seven-game winning streak. But the Bruins are coming off a weekend
that saw them upset No. 2 Stanford and maintain a perfect Pac-10
record.
“The team’s confidence is the best it’s been
all season,” sophomore forward John Carson said. “We
feel like we are getting better as the season goes on.”
UCLA is riding a three-game winning streak as they prepare to
face Washington, which is powered by a balanced scoring attack,
with senior midfielders Ben Somoza and Zach Kingsley combining for
seven goals and seventeen points on the season.
But the UCLA defense, along with standout goalkeeper Zach Wells,
has been shutting down opponents of late, as the back line of Scot
Thompson, Leonard Griffin, Nelson Akwari and Hermann Trophy
candidate Alex Yi have allowed just two goals in the last three
victories.
“The defense has kept us in games,” said sophomore
midfielder Ty Maurin. “They have been strong all
year.”
Washington head coach and former UCLA assistant Dean Wurzberger
is not surprised at the recent success of the Bruins.
“UCLA is extremely talented and they’re also young,
so you’re going to get some fluctuation in form because of
that,” Wurzberger said. “(The Stanford win) serves
notice to our guys that (UCLA) is capable of beating
anybody.”
On Sunday UCLA travels to Corvallis to take on Oregon State
(3-6-0, 0-1-0), a team that began the season with a four game
losing streak. The Beavers are led by junior forward Aaron McHardy
with five goals and eleven points on the season.
After last weekend’s triumphs, the Bruins are in good
position to compete for the Pac-10 title, not to mention make their
19th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
“Last weekend was the turning point of the season,”
Carson said. “We just have to keep playing well.”
