Top and bottom sports moments of 2009-2010
By Daily Bruin Staff
June 6, 2010 11:41 p.m.
TOP SPORTS MOMENTS OF 2009-2010
1. Gymnastics wins championship No. 105
Entering the season ranked No. 5 nationally, the UCLA gymnastics team was predicted to make a strong run for the title from the very beginning. With an impressive 11-3 record, the Bruins performed true to their ranking, entering the postseason as one of the nation’s top teams.
At the Pac-10 Championships in Tucson, Ariz., UCLA avenged its two regular season losses to Stanford by winning the title with a nation-high score of 197.35. The win marked the first time the Bruins have won back-to-back Pac-10 titles since the 2002-2003 seasons.
Two weeks after winning the conference championships, the team hosted the NCAA regionals, competing against five other teams for a spot at the championships.
In front of a packed Pauley Pavilion crowd, the Bruins’ 197.825 easily secured them a spot at nationals with the best score of the meet.
Entering the NCAA Championships in Florida as the No. 1 seed, the Bruins faced significant pressure to perform. Competing against Oklahoma, Alabama, Stanford, Florida and Utah in the finals, UCLA needed a 49.1 on floor in the final rotation to win its sixth national championship. The Bruins did not disappoint, scoring a season-high 49.55 to clinch UCLA’s 105th national title and the team’s first NCAA Championship since 2004.
2. Baseball wins 22 straight
Coming off a disappointing season that saw them finish less than .500 and miss out on the postseason, the UCLA baseball team figured they needed a strong start to the 2010 campaign to avoid a repeat.
Consider it done.
The Bruins began the season with a 22-game winning streak that included victories over Vanderbilt ace Sonny Gray and USC in front of a crowd of 15,000 at Dodger Stadium. Although the streak eventually came to an end against Stanford, by that time, the Bruins had developed an extremely successful style of play.
“That definitely got our confidence going,” junior starting pitcher Rob Rasmussen said of the streak.
The most lopsided victory was a 20-4 bashing of Oral Roberts, while UCLA also had to win one-run games over Nebraska, UC Riverside, Cal Poly and Pepperdine. The Bruins won their 22nd game on April 1; by comparison, it took the 2009 squad until May 3 to reach that number.
3. Football nabs big win in Tennessee
The UCLA football team’s offense sputtered all year, but on Sept. 12, the defense stole the show.
After a Kevin Prince touchdown pass to senior fullback Chane Moline in the second quarter, the Bruins’ offensive production came solely from redshirt senior kicker Kai Forbath, who kicked four field goals through the uprights.
After a Tennessee field goal made it 19-13 in the fourth quarter, Volunteers running back Montario Hardesty ran through the Bruin defense, setting up a first-and-goal. After three straight rushes, the Vols found themselves facing a fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard line. Hardesty got the ball for another crack at the goal line, but Bruin linebacker tandem of seniors Kyle Bosworth and Reggie Carter stopped him short. Though the Bruins gave up a safety when they took possession deep in Vols territory, they held on to win 19-15 for a crucial early-season victory.
The UCLA defense picked off Volunteers’ quarterback Jonathan Crompton three times, with a forced fumble for good measure.
4. Abdul-Hamid hits game winner at the buzzer
Not many things went perfectly for the UCLA men’s basketball team this season, but the final play in a January home game against Washington was flawless.
After the Huskies made a go-ahead layup with less than four seconds remaining, senior Michael Roll heaved the ensuing inbound pass to Mustafa Abdul-Hamid.
Though his four-year career as a Bruin hoopster had mostly been limited to garbage minutes, Abdul-Hamid did not fumble or panic. The redshirt junior calmly took two dribbles, pump-faked and hit a shot from the top of the key that would cement his legacy in the program.
The basket gave UCLA the 62-61 victory.
5. Men’s water polo tears through MPSF tournament
In just about every respect, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s water polo tournament is more difficult to win than the tournament that determines the national champion.
UCLA entered the tournament as the fourth seed and after an opening win over Pepperdine, knocked off USC in the semifinals and California in the final to take home the MPSF’s automatic bid to the Final Four. They would enter the national semifinals as the hottest team in the nation.
BOTTOM SPORTS MOMENTS OF 2009-2010
1. Men’s basketball opens season with loss to CSUF on national TV
It was certainly fitting that the third losing season in the last 60 years of the storied UCLA men’s basketball program started off with such a demoralizing loss.
All set for its first official game of the year, which was broadcast nationally on ESPN’s College Hoops Tip-Off Special, the Bruins tripped and fell right out of the starting gate.
UCLA was upset at the hands of Cal State Fullerton, which pulled off a 68-65 win in double overtime to shock the crowd at Pauley Pavilion and open the floodgates for a season’s worth of second-guessing from Bruin fans.
Senior forward Nikola Dragovic and sophomore guard Malcolm Lee combined to shoot 2-for-17 from beyond the arc, highlighting an abysmal shooting performance by the home team.
It was the first time in school history the Titans had beaten their historically dominant opponents from Westwood and only the ninth home-opening loss in Bruins’ history.
2. Bruins fail to win College Cup for seventh consecutive season
Down 1-0 for most of regulation, the Bruins kept their season alive on senior forward Lauren Cheney’s equalizer in the 76th minute.
But as in years past, the UCLA women’s soccer team’s hopes of its first-ever national title were foiled by a golden goal from Stanford’s Christian Press that eliminated the Bruins from the semifinals of the College Cup.
It was UCLA’s seventh consecutive trip to the Final Four, with no championship hardware to show for it. Now, months removed from that stinging loss in College Station, Texas, it is a matter of whether or not an eighth College Cup appearance lies in the future.
Gone is Cheney, the program’s single-season record holder for most points (173) and game winning goals (28), though some of that loss in offensive firepower will be offset by the arrival of highly touted freshman Jenna Richmond from Virginia.
But more than anything, the Bruins will look to forward Sydney Leroux, the team leader in goals last season, to rebound from 2009’s shattered dreams.
3. Bitter loss to USC at the Coliseum ends in controversy
On November 28, 2009, Rick Neuheisel and the Bruins lost their late-season gridiron matchup against the crosstown rival Trojans, 28-7. But it wasn’t the 21-point defeat that left a sour taste in the Bruins’ mouth.
Ahead 14 points, with under a minute to go, then-USC coach Pete Carroll told his then-freshman quarterback Matt Barkley to take a knee, seeing as how the game was in hand. But apparently, Neuheisel didn’t feel the same way, as he called a timeout with small hopes of getting the ball back, much to the chagrin of Carroll.
On the very next play, with everyone at the Coliseum expecting the Trojans to take yet another knee, including the Bruins’ secondary, Barkley hurled a 48-yard strike to receiver Damian Williams, stretching the USC lead to 21 and embarrassing UCLA in the process.
After the game, Neuheisel attempted to subdue his thoughts on the play, only saying, “I don’t forget much.”
4. USC snaps UCLA’s win streak at Drake Stadium
Although the UCLA men’s track team had not lost to USC at Drake Stadium since 1977, the Bruins could not hold off the Trojans in this year’s dual meet.
USC easily won the annual meet 96-67 after UCLA initiated some trash-talking over the stadium PA system early in the competition. Senior Brandon Smith’s harsh words for the Trojans were justified after his victorious effort in the 4×100-meter relay, but the Trojans had the last word when they easily won the 4x400m relay.
The Bruins did have several impressive individual performances at the meet, but they couldn’t back up the trash talk, and saw their streak come to an end.
5. Disappointment of basketball season compounded by transfers
The UCLA basketball team’s disappointing season resulted in a sub-par record ““ and an ever-changing roster.
The season was marred by several player transfers and dismissals, beginning with sophomore forward Drew Gordon’s decision to leave in early December to the University of New Mexico.
In late March, sophomore center J’Mison Morgan was dismissed from the team after failing to live up to the high expectations brought about by his arrival to the team. Morgan averaged just over two points per game and one rebound per game in his two years as a Bruin, and is now at Baylor.
Capping off the farewells was freshman forward Mike Moser, who decided to leave UCLA in early April and transferred to UNLV shortly thereafter. Moser averaged less than a point and a rebound a game in his lone year in Westwood.
