UCLA Club Sports

A few weeks ago UCLA Men's Soccer headed to Phoenix, Arizona for the NIRSA National Championship Tournament where they competed against some of the best teams from across the country. The Bruins had a strong showing, winning their group only to be narrowly edged out in the quarter finals.

Despite being tired from the long travel to Arizona, the team started well with a 2-1 victory over Cornell. Although the match opened with Cornell taking an early lead, the Bruins managed to dominate in the second half with an impressive 30-yard goal from senior Shun Sekiguchi.

The Bruins then played the second game in their group, facing off against University of Miami, Ohio. Both teams came out with intensity, determined to fight for a win. Miami managed to sneak in an early goal, but the Bruins came back with an amazing shot from outside the box by senior Emilio Martin de Bustamente just before halftime. The game levelled out in the second half again, but Senior Riley O'Rourke powered past two defenders to score the winning goal.

Their final game in the qualifying groups was against University of North Carolina, Greensborough. The team was starting to show some of their fatigue here, with UNCG getting in an early goal. But sophomore Marco Romo managed to get in an equaliser—a great tap-in from close range. Junior Derik Bessler made some great saves to stave off UNCG's attack, but unfortunately they weren't able to get in another goal, so the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Despite the draw in the last game, UCLA won their group and qualified through to the quarter finals, where they faced University of Texas, Austin. The Bruins came out strong, dominating possession through the first half. Going into the second half, the score was tied, but early in the half Texas managed to get in a goal from a long-range strike. Unfortunately, the attackers couldn't quite create an opening to get past Texas's defence through the rest of the half, and the game ended 2-1.

President Clem Witherall was proud of all the team did, but said, "it was a disappointing way to exit the tournament because we had played so well in the first half." But despite that disappointment, the team fought hard through all their games and their hard work through the season was certainly evident.

This tournament marked the end of the Fall season for Club Soccer, but they are ready to start training for their Spring season in the new year.