Men’s soccer to take on its toughest rival yet in the San Diego State Aztecs
Senior defender Shawn Singh and the No. 9 men’s soccer team (9-3-1) will take on No. 22 San Diego State Sunday at Drake Stadium.
By Daniel Khayat
Oct. 14, 2011 12:12 a.m.
The Pac-12 has been smooth sailing for the UCLA men’s soccer team this season.
California, Stanford, Washington and Oregon State have all challenged the No. 9 Bruins (9-3-1, 4-0-0 Pac-12), but each one has fallen by the wayside, adding to the growing number of names on UCLA’s list of conquests.
On Sunday evening, however, the Bruins will face their toughest test in conference play when the No. 22 San Diego State Aztecs (8-2-2, 3-1-0) come to Drake Stadium in a showdown for conference supremacy.
Despite San Diego State’s impressive record, UCLA’s ever-confident players are not ones to doubt their team’s capability to defeat any and all opponents.
“We’re going to go out there and win,” sophomore attacking midfielder Kelyn Rowe said. “We expect to win every game.”
The Bruins may be riding high after winning nine of their last 10 games, including their last four, but the Aztecs have also shown themselves capable of stringing together victories.
Before losing to Washington on Sunday, the Aztecs were riding an eight-match winning streak of their own and will look to prove that they are no pushovers.
But more than winning streaks link the two teams.
According to senior left defender Shawn Singh, the Aztecs also share some tactical similarities with the Bruins.
“I think they’re going to try to possess the ball more and try to move it around,” Singh said.
“They have a bit more skillful players and don’t play as direct as Washington or Oregon State. We do the same thing, so we just have to match that and keep the ball.”
It seems a dangerous tactic for San Diego State to try and beat UCLA at its own possession game, especially with the way the Bruins outplayed California and Stanford in their last homestand two weeks ago.
The Aztecs do possess, however, the offensive acumen to back up whatever tactics they employ ““ San Diego State ranks first in the Pac-12 in goals scored, with 25 in 12 matches. UCLA is second with 23 goals in 13 matches.
For the Bruins to successfully defend their home turf, they will have to keep San Diego State’s three-pronged attack of forward Jordan Ongaro, who leads his team with five goals, forward Miles Byass and defender Daniel Steres away from redshirt senior Brian Rowe’s goal.
Short of setting up a brick wall at the 6-yard box, keeping the lion’s share of possession is the simplest way to stifle and frustrate a potent opposing offense.
“Our team is about (keeping the ball),” sophomore midfielder Victor Munoz said. “We have really skilled players, and when we do that I’m pretty sure we’ll get the result.”
After keeping California and Stanford scoreless over the last homestand, the Bruins finally conceded a goal apiece in 4-1 and 2-1 wins over Washington and Oregon State, respectively, this past weekend on the road.
Singh is adamant about getting the team’s clean sheet record back on track.
“We’ve got to be tight on defense,” Singh said. “We’re not going to give them any chances, and hopefully we’ll get the clean sheet.”
