Senior standouts return for men’s soccer’s third Pac-10 game on the road
Senior midfielder Michael Stephens kicks the ball downfield during the Bruins’ draw with Cal last season on Oct. 31, 2008. Stephens is making his first appearance with the Bruins since returning from playing with the U-20 Men’s National Team in Egypt. The No. 4 Bruins will conclude their three-match road swing as they take on the San Diego State Aztecs Sunday afternoon at SDSU Sports Deck.
By Brantley Watson
Oct. 8, 2009 10:20 p.m.
Halfway into the season, the UCLA men’s soccer team has ascended to No. 4 in the national rankings and is currently riding a six-match unbeaten streak heading into Sunday’s Pac-10 contest at San Diego State.
The catch? The Bruins are only getting better.
After missing five consecutive matches, senior midfielder Michael Stephens and senior goalkeeper Brian Perk will return to the UCLA lineup this Sunday when the Bruins (6-1-1, 1-0-1 Pac-10) hit the road to face the Aztecs (3-3-3, 0-1-1) in UCLA’s third Pac-10 match of the season.
Stephens and Perk were competing in the Under-20 FIFA World Cup in Egypt with the U.S. U-20 National Team.
After being in the lineup for the Bruins’ first two matches on the season, the two senior standouts were forced to miss the next five.
But in their absence, the Bruins posted a record of 4-0-1 and got stellar play out of senior midfielder Kyle Nakazawa and redshirt sophomore backup goalkeeper Brian Rowe.
Stephens and Perk, who were following the Bruins’ progress from halfway across the world, were more than thrilled by the Bruins’ performance.
“It was great,” Stephens said. “We were waking up at 5 a.m. to go on Gametracker, and every time we’d flip it on we’d be winning or on our way to winning. It’s a testament to how deep our team is, that we can lose two starters and not miss a beat. It’s a really positive sign, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
However, unlike Perk, who played significant minutes for the U.S. National Team, Stephens is extremely happy to be back, considering he didn’t see the type of playing time he hoped for while competing in Egypt.
“Personally, I didn’t get any minutes in the U-20 World Cup so I’m surprisingly fresh, which wasn’t a good thing at the time but for the rest of this college season, it is a good thing,” Stephens said. “I’m coming in half the college season with fresh legs. It’s the first time I’ve been able to do that up to this point.”
“A lot of people are wearing down as the season wears on and I’m still fresh and ready to go and excited to start the second half of the season,” he added.
As for San Diego State, the Bruins have dominated the Aztecs in the all-time series, holding a record of 28-4-9 over SDSU.
But it was only two years ago, in 2007, that the Aztecs defeated the Bruins 1-0 in San Diego.
After Thursday’s practice, Stephens, who is also the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year, said that the Bruins not defending their 2008 Pac-10 crown would be a huge let down.
“I think that this year would be a disappointment if we didn’t win the Pac-10,” Stephens said. “Every year we have a team that’s capable of winning the Pac-10, especially this year. I think there’s no reason why we won’t.”
Sunday’s match will end the Bruins current three-game road-trip to open Pac-10 play, and UCLA will return home for its Pac-10 home-opener on Oct. 16 against Cal.
