No. 12 men’s soccer to face Washington and Oregon State
By Amy Le
Nov. 5, 2010 12:54 a.m.
This weekend looks to be a special homecoming for two Bruins on the UCLA men’s soccer team as the squad heads up to play Washington tonight and Oregon State on Sunday.
Freshman midfielder Kelyn Rowe returns to Washington to play his first collegiate game in his home state against the Huskies (9-5-1, 3-4 Pac-10) while redshirt junior goalkeeper Brian Rowe gets his second chance to play near his hometown of Eugene, Ore. when the Bruins take on the Beavers (6-8, 1-6) in Corvallis, Ore.
“It’s real nice going home,” Kelyn Rowe said. “I get to see all of my family and friends that are coming to see the game, so it’s going to be real fun.”
Likewise, Brian Rowe relishes the opportunity to play in his home state with many of his loved ones in attendance.
“I have a lot of family and friends coming out to the game to watch, who haven’t really seen me play yet since I’ve been in college,” he said. “Fortunately, each year (coach Jorge Salcedo) has brought me back up (to Oregon) on the trip, even though I wasn’t playing. I’m definitely very excited to get back up there and play in front of everyone.”
With only three games left in the regular season, the No. 11 Bruins (11-4-1, 5-2) find themselves in a crucial position because each game becomes a must-win. They are currently second in the conference behind California, which only has one game remaining but can clinch the Pac-10 with a win over Stanford.
The Bruins would rather concentrate on controlling their own destiny, though, and not be concerned with Cal’s result.
“I think we’re just going to focus on all the things we can control ““ these last three games here,” Brian Rowe said. “We’re not going to worry too much about any of the other games going on. We’re just going to try to do the best we can and if it works out in our way, then we’ll take it.”
UCLA last played Washington more than a month ago when it pulled out a 1-0 win at Drake Stadium. This time around, Salcedo is expecting a more intense match, especially with so much at stake for both squads.
“Washington is playing for their lives, so it’ll be a real good test for us to play a team where it’s almost like a playoff game for them,” he said. “It’s just a matter of finishing strong. We’re in a good spot in terms of the Pac-10; we still have a chance to win the conference. So we’re going up there and taking every game like it’s the most important game of the season.”
Salcedo admitted that the Bruins’ strong play this season didn’t stop them from working on their finishing touches and execution on goal.
“We’ve struggled to finish off our good buildup and our good play,” he said. “We’ve held the ball really well and in the last four or five games that we’ve played, we’ve had more possession than the other teams. We’ve had more goal-scoring opportunities, but at the end of the day, we have to finish those chances.”
The Bruins, however, had no problem with goal-scoring during their last matchup with the Beavers, winning 4-1 thanks to freshman forward Victor Chavez’s hat trick.
Taking full advantage of their bye week, the Bruins hope to repeat that strong offensive effort on the road trip in order to remain in contention for the conference title.
“It’s nice to have a weekend off with no games,” Brian Rowe said. “There were definitely a lot of guys banged up from last week’s game against Northridge, and you could definitely tell we were tired. We got some good practices in, we’re rested up and ready to play again.”
