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Men's Soccer Game of the Week preview: Cal at UCLA

by Kevin Danna
Oct 19, 2015
GoldenBearSports.com / UCLA Athletics

Who: Cal at UCLA

When: Monday, Oct. 18, at 6 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks, with JB Long and Cobi Jones on the call.

The first half of conference play wraps up with the UC rivals, as both Cal and UCLA fight to improve their NCAA tournament résumés.

The Story So Far: Cal (5-4-2, 0-2-2 Pac-12)

Sep. 20 – that’s the date of Cal’s last victory, a 3-1 triumph over San Francisco that pushed the Golden Bears back into the rankings at No. 20. The win concluded a five-match homestand that saw Kevin Grimes and Co. win all five and score 14 goals in the process. Since then, the Bears have gone 0-3-2 and are in danger of not winning a match in the first half of conference play since 2011, when they went winless in Pac-12 action. Now with an RPI of 79, the Golden Bears need to win at least four of its last six contests (maybe five) to get itself in consideration for an NCAA berth.

Since the Pac-12 started sponsoring men’s soccer in 2000, only two teams have made the NCAA tournament with eight regular-season wins (2007 UCLA and 2007 Washington), and sometimes nine wins hasn’t been enough. A win over UCLA won’t provide as big of an RPI boost as it usually would, but it certainly would help Cal’s tourney chances and make up for a disappointing 1-0 loss at San Diego State Friday night.

The Story So Far: UCLA (6-6-0, 2-2-0 Pac-12)

Despite the 2-1 loss against No. 3 Stanford, the Bruins are playing arguably their best soccer of the season. UCLA was 4-1-0 in its last five matches leading into the Stanford contest, and that included a win at No. 15 Washington. The Bruins played very well even in the loss to Stanford, controlling the flow for much of the game and outshooting the Cardinal 15-6 in the one-goal defeat (UCLA also had an equalizing goal in the 85th minute waved off for an offside call that Cobi Jones thought was questionable at best).

Probably deserving of at least a draw against Stanford, UCLA just missed out on what would have been a résumé-building result but did improve its RPI to 37 from 43 last week and is playing very much like a postseason team at the moment. After this one, the Bruins make the return trip to Northern California and then head to the Midwest to play at No. 6 Akron, which could really provide a boost to Jorge Salcedo’s group in the eyes of the decision-makers.

Three Players to Watch: Cal

  1. #10 Jose Carrera-Garcia (Midfielder/Forward, Sophomore) – The No. 10 is usually reserved for one of the best players on the team, and #JCG certainly fits the bill. The master table-setter entered the weekend tied for first in assists in the conference with six (and is now second after Stanford’s Corey Baird dimed up a teammate Sunday). However, Carrera-Garcia hasn’t registered a helper since Sep. 20 – the last time the Golden Bears won a game.
  2. #6 Christian Thierjung (Forward/Midfielder, Junior) – The story is the same for Thierjung – he leads the team with four goals, but he hasn’t scored since that last win nearly a month ago. Getting him and Carrera-Garcia going against the Bruins will be key for the Bears.
  3. #1 Alex Mengels (Goalkeeper, Redshirt Senior) – Mangels is the only senior on the 26-man Cal roster, and he’s also one of the busiest netminders in the conference – Mangels was second in the Pac-12 in saves per game (3.10) entering the weekend. He stopped a penalty kick in the loss to San Diego State, so this guy is up to the task.

Three Players to Watch: UCLA

  1. #15 Jackson Yueill (Midfielder, Freshman) – Back from U-20 Men’s National Team action with Malcolm Jones, Yueill picked up right where he left off against Stanford, leading the team with four shots against the Cardinal and very nearly connecting on a couple of them (one a brilliant save from Andrew Epstein). He is second on the team with three assists and third with nine points.
  2. #18 Jose Hernandez (Midfielder, Freshman) – He would have eight goals on the year if his chipper past Andrew Epstein wasn’t called back for offside (on Larry Ndjock, who really wasn’t involved in the play; Hernandez was onside), but he still leads the conference with 15 points.
  3. Whoever the goalkeeper is – After telling you to keep an eye out on Pepe Barroso-Silva in the last game of the week preview only for Salcedo to keep him on the bench for the full 90, I’m giving up on guessing who will be in cage for the Bruins. Juan Cervantes has played the last two games back there but hasn’t exactly been inspiring, not needing to make a save in the 4-0 win over San Diego State and allowing both shots on goal to scoot by him in the 2-1 loss to Stanford (that said, there wasn’t much he could do on either goal, especially Jordan Morris’ game-winner).

Three Notes to Know

  1. Streak Snapped – Friday night’s result in Los Angeles was the first time UCLA had ever lost to Stanford at home. The Cardinal had only earned three draws at UCLA since 1980 prior to Friday’s game.
  2. Homebodies – Cal has only played three road games so far this year and has lost all three. In need of a good sign, Cal fan? The Golden Bears’ last road win came at UCLA last season when the Bruins were the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
  3. Meeting of the Minds – Cal coach Kevin Grimes and UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo are the two winningest coaches at their current schools in the Pac-12; Grimes has collected 169 wins, while Salcedo has 150 next to his name.

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