Team has high hopes at start of season despite loss of key players
By Eric Johnson
Sept. 24, 2005 9:00 p.m.
And the unofficial slogan for the 2005 UCLA men’s soccer
team is: Four down, good to go.
Stripped of four key contributors from last season, the
team’s expectations for 2005 were likely to be a little less
ambitious and a little more cautious this time around. But two
games into the regular season and a preseason tie with No.1 ranked
Indiana under their belts, the Bruins’ aspirations not only
match those of last season, they may even surpass them.
“Most definitely we can do as well this season as last
season,” junior Patrick Ianni said. “We’re
obviously missing those four key players from last year, but I
think we’ve filled those spots very well.”
Every team has the same ultimate goal of becoming a national
champion, only the feat is more realistic for some teams than
others. As the young season begins to unfold, the goal seems
attainable for the Bruins.
One year removed from a season that saw the Bruins make an early
exit from the NCAA Tournament, the team has transformed itself.
Lost to professional soccer teams are Chad Barrett, Mike
Enfield, Aaron Lopez and Benny Feilhaber, four players largely
responsible for last year’s impressive finish.
But the same door that saw several players exit saw a freshman
class, including Brad Rusin and Sal Zizzo enter, two players who
have already made an impact.
The preseason rankings had the Bruins at No. 9. But without any
games played, it was unclear exactly where the team’s new
makeup would take it.
A 1-1 tie with powerhouse Indiana, in which coach Jorge Salcedo
used four freshmen in the first half, showed that the team would
remain a serious contender.
An affirmation was made as the Bruins came back to shut out then
No. 2-ranked Maryland after a close 3-2 loss to Santa Clara, in
which UCLA had two penalties called against it that led to Santa
Clara goals.
It was a loss that Salcedo partially chalks up to bad luck.
“We didn’t deserve to have two of the goals scored
against us,” Salcedo said. “But on the flip side of
that we didn’t play well in the first half. We came up short,
but what it showed is that we have that potential to fight like
that early in the season and I think we carried that second half
into the first half against Maryland.”
Both Bruin goals against Santa Clara came in the second half,
tying the game at 2-2 until Santa Clara struck again with just a
few minutes left to play, leaving the Bruins with a 0-1 record.
The scoring continued in the first half of the Maryland game
with UCLA coming away with three unanswered goals. The Bruins went
on to defeat Maryland 4-0, shutting out a team that had scored
seven goals in its first game of the season.
“It was huge for us to turn around and perform like
that,” Ianni said. “I think our team is going to get a
lot better than we performed against Maryland, which is scary.
We’re still getting to know each other as a group a little
bit.”
Beside adjusting to the new faces, the Bruins must also adjust
to the loss of two starters due to injury, Kiel McClung and Rusin,
leaving the Bruin lineup still open-ended.
“There’s an old saying in soccer that you
don’t change a winning team,” Salcedo said. “But
we do have so much depth and talent that sometimes you need to give
guys minutes and see how they perform because they do well in
practice or they’re injured. So as far as an out and out
starting lineup, we don’t have one right now.”
Coming off a second consecutive 4-0 win over crosstown rival
Loyola Marymount, UCLA’s ranking has climbed to No. 7 as it
heads into what will be a challenging schedule for the remainder of
the season. The Pac-10 is regarded as one of the strongest in the
nation, making each conference game an important one. Also very
strong is the Big Ten Conference, from which the Bruins will face
perennial contenders Penn State and Ohio State.
Despite the demanding schedule, the Bruins remain optimistic
about their chances this season.
“I think we’re very comfortable with the way we can
attack, and we’re very dynamic on the outside on the
flanks,” Salcedo said. “Can we be a better attacking
team? Time will tell. But I think we do have the potential to be an
overall better team than we were last year.”
Ianni, too, sees a bright future for the Bruins.
“As a team so far we’ve been working very well
together, and if we continue to come together, this could be a very
special group we have here.”
