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Senior midfielder Adolfo Gregorio and the UCLA men’s soccer team face Rutgers tonight at Dr
M. soccer: Bruins to square off with Rutgers
While the rest of UCLA’s student body dons costumes tonight, the UCLA men’s soccer team will be wearing the same white jerseys they’ve worn nearly every weekend since mid-August.
Tonight, the No. 1 Bruins (14-1, 7-0 Pac-10) will host Rutgers (9-4-3, 3-3-3 Big East) in one of UCLA’s last two non-conference games before the start of the postseason.
“Rather than not play at all, we need to play good competition,” coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “Rutgers gives us a tough team to play down the stretch.”
UCLA’s ticket to the NCAA tournament, at this point, is practically guaranteed. The champions from every national conference automatically advance to the tournament, and with three conference games left in their season, the Bruins are two full games ahead of second place Oregon State (10-4, 4-1 Pac-10).
Rutgers, which concluded Big East conference play with a victory over West Virginia on Tuesday, will be looking for a win against the Bruins to improve its standing with the NCAA tournament committee as well.
“This is a great opportunity to play our way into the NCAA Tournament,” Rutgers coach Bob Reasso said. “No matter what happens in the Big East, if we get results outside the region it helps our chances to make the NCAA tournament.”
Last year’s game between the Bruins and Scarlet Knights resulted in a 1-1 tie. In that game, current Rutgers forward Josh Gros made his first career goal to even the score. This season, Gros has tallied 13 goals, the same number as UCLA senior forward Matt Taylor, the Bruins’ leading scorer.
Though the Scarlet Knight offense will be looking to find the back of the Bruin net, that has not been easy to do so far this year. UCLA’s defense has set a tone for the season, allowing only six goals over the course of 15 games.
“We’re on a stretch where every game is important,” senior defender Tony Lawson said. “We need to re-assert ourselves as the No. 1 team and prove day-in and day-out we are national champions.”
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