• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Senior forward Mike Enfield scored three goals in the Bruins’ road sweep over No. 13 Califo

Heading into the weekend’s must-win games against California and Stanford, the UCLA defense knew that with the struggles the offense was having, it was going to have to post two shut-outs in order to leave the Bay Area victorious.

Well, the defense succeeded.

And to show its appreciation, the Bruin offense did something that it has failed to do for the better part of the season – score.

“We were waiting for the goals to come,” senior defender Aaron Lopez said. “We broke out this week.”

“We knew the goals were going to be coming. It’s good they came this weekend.”

The Bruins (7-2-2, 3-1-0 Pac-10) held No. 13 California (8-2-2, 1-2-1) scoreless, 3-0, on Friday and then UCLA followed up that impressive win with a 2-0 victory over No. 10 Stanford (6-2-5, 1-1-2) on Sunday, handing the Cardinal its first conference loss of the season.

With these crucial wins, the No. 19 Bruins have placed themselves back in contention for their third consecutive Pac-10 title, a goal that had come into question after the Bruins’ 1-0 loss to Washington two weeks ago.

“The Pac-10 Championship is still in our control,” first-year coach Jorge Salcedo said.

“We don’t really need anything else to happen if we win our remaining four games.”

As far as this weekend was concerned, UCLA took care of business. Against Stanford, the Bruins battled the Cardinal to a scoreless first half.

“Both teams had some chances in the first half,” Salcedo said.

“One of our shots hit the post, a couple shots went wide. (Stanford) had some close shots too.”

But a donut on the scoreboard didn’t deter the Bruins, as they didn’t waste any time putting the ball in the net in the second half.

Four minutes into the period, sophomore midfielder Benny Feilhaber received a pass from freshman forward Kamani Hill and fired a shot into the upper right-hand corner of the goal, his first goal of the season.

Senior forward Mike Enfield sealed the game for the Bruins in the 71st minute when he scored his third goal of the weekend.

Enfield intercepted an errant backpass made by the Stanford defense and connected on a lower right-hand corner shot just past Cardinal goalie Robby Fulton.

While the offense seems to finally have broken out of its slump, the defense continued its solid play.

The unit successfully shut down Cardinal senior forward Darren Fernandez, who going into the game led the Pac-10 with seven goals scored.

“The defense has been playing well all season,” Salcedo said. “It wasn’t just the back four. It was the whole team that defended well on Friday and once again (on Sunday).”

But the defense wasn’t the only unit that shined this weekend. After a scoreless first half against Cal, UCLA’s offense found a groove in the second half.

Enfield connected on two goals, and junior midfielder Ramon Manak scored his first goal as a Bruin. Sophomore goalkeeper Eric Reed finished with seven saves in the two matches and was a major part in stifling the team’s opponents.

The Bruins will get another chance to prove their dominance over California and Stanford when the two teams travel south this weekend to take on the Bruins at Drake Stadium.

Full of confidence from this past weekend’s wins, the Bruins feel that they are ready.

“It’s tough to play (the same teams) on back-to-back weekends,” Enfield said. “But’s it’s going to be a lot tougher on them.”