UCLA Club Sports

By VINNY LAVALSITI

Despite a mid-season lull, the UCLA club men's soccer team will bring some Southern California hospitality to the pitch in Alabama for the NIRSA Open Nationals Tournament on November 28.

UCLA (3-3) and Club President Michael Poulos decided to forego its Closed NIRSA Regionals Tournament bid to better game plan and rest up Nationals at the end of the month.
"We have a pretty good chance at winning (Nationals)," said Poulos, the team's outside midfielder. "At Open (Nationals) every year, there are some pretty good teams, but we're one of the best teams there. If everyone plays up to their potential, we should have a strong chance."

However, the road to Nationals has not been as refined as the freshly-cut cut grass at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. Factors that were out of the team's hands have played a role in the result of the Bruins' .500 record.
 
"If we had every single player and no one got injured on the team, we'd have a lot better chance going in to win it," Poulos said.
 
Aside from injuries hampering the team, the very nature of being a UCLA student affects the amount of time a player has been able to be on the practice field: "It's other people having commitments," said team Vice President and midfielder Marco Romos.
 
In regards to the 1-3 slump which featured losses to USC, Northridge and Cal Poly SLO, Romos felt that he wasn't playing to his full potential either. "It was just a mentality issue with the whole team."

Poulos mentioned the difficulty of building a rapport and chemistry with people they've never played with presenting an obstacle for the team as well.
 
According to Poulos, the statistics in the box score of the Bruins' three defeats does not project the overall quality of play that was presented. A majority of the goals were either scored in garbage time or the games were tight until the end.
 
And as for their three wins, "We dominated," Poulos said. UCLA had a goal differential of +10 in their three wins.
 
The Bruins will look to assert the same dominance in Nationals at the end of the month with assistance from their goalie and center back positions who've been reliable all season.
 
"Derik (Bessler) has made a lot of big saves for us. (Anthony) Salvadori, our center back, he's been a rock back there," Poulos said.
 
The bracket for the NIRSA Open Nationals Tournament has not been released yet. The team will be flying out to New Orleans and taking a three-hour bus ride to Alabama. A bonding experience that may relay into success between the painted white lines.
 
"It's the most fun part of the year, in my opinion. Some of my best friends are from club soccer" Romos said.
 
Club soccer has played a big part of the athletes' experiences at UCLA. "Coming to UCLA, I didn't want to just play soccer, I wanted to find a social outlet and to make friends. Club soccer for me has been just as much been social as it has been playing soccer," said Poulos.