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So it's once again Tuesday and we're now wondering if our football team is beginning a downward slide toward mediocrity following Saturday's woeful effort against the Cardinal, or if this was a blip on the radar and our Bruins come out guns blazing against the Ducks in Eugene on Saturday. While we wait to find out, let's take a look at the various bits and pieces of news from around the non-revenue sports related UCLA-iverse:
- Starting with the #5-ranked men's soccer team, the Bruins started their weekend trip to the Pacific Northwest with a road match against the Oregon State Beavers on Friday, picking up a 1-1 draw in Corvallis. After a scoreless first half, the Beavers took a commanding position by breaking through in 73rd minute, but the Bruins responded at the death, grabbing the equalizer through Gage Zerboni in the 88th minute. The Bruins then headed further north to Seattle and took on the #3-ranked Washington Huskies in a huge conference match, coming away with a hard-fought 2-2 draw in a game that the Bruins would have won if not for their own errors. Things didn't start off well for UCLA in the first half, with the Huskies opening the scoring in the 29th minute following a UCLA own goal. The Bruins came out strong in the second half, with Victor Chavez scoring in the 50th minute, followed by Max Estrada in the 51st minute. With UCLA on the way to huge road win, Washington continued to push forward and on a long flip-throw-in to the box, the Bruins again shot themselves in the foot, giving the Huskies another goal in the 87th minute. With the split results, the Bruins now stand at 7-3-3 overall and 2-1-2 in conference play, and will take on the Beavers once against this Friday in Westwood.
- Turning to their female counterparts, the #2-ranked women's soccer team took care of business this past weekend, dropping Arizona State on Friday, in a 3-0 dominating display. Ally Courtnall got her first goal of the year in the 17th minute, with Darian Jenkins bringing her season total to 9 in the 53rd minute, with Courtney Proctor joining the goal-scoring fun in the 65th minute. With the win, the Lady Bruins are now 13-1-1 overall and 5-0-1 in Pac-12 conference play.
- Flipping over to the unranked women's volleyball team, despite excellent games from Karsta Lowe (15 kills) and Megan Moenoa (20 assists, 12 digs), the Lady Bruins got swept on Friday against Arizona in the first leg of their desert road-trip, 3-0 (22-25, 20-25, 20-25). Fortunately, the second leg of their trip in Tempe went much better, with UCLA pulling out a solid sweep of #22-ranked Arizona State, 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21). Lowe once again led the way with 17 kills, with Kelly Reeves adding 9 kills and 13 digs, to lead the Lady Bruins to a much-needed win in their struggling season. With the split road trip, the Bruins now stand at 11-7 overall and will finally return home to face the Washington schools in Westwood this weekend.
- Finally, turning to the #2-ranked men's water polo team, it seemed like the previously undefeated Bruins still had a bit of a hangover following their heart breaking overtime 12-11 loss to then-#2-ranked Southern Cal in the Southern California Invitational tourney final. The Bruins went north to Palo Alto and like their football counterparts on Saturday, fell to Stanford, 6-8, in just their second loss of the year. After falling behind 2-0 in the first quarter, the Bruins couldn't catch back up, with both the Cardinal and Bruins scoring a pair of goals each quarter after. Needing a win to bounce back, the Bruins went further south to Santa Clara and pounded the #16-ranked Broncos, 16-2. Learning from their loss to Stanford, the Bruins came out firing against Santa Clara, putting up a 5-0 advantage after just one quarter. And unlike Jim Mora's Bruins, these water polo Bruins showed a killer instinct, not letting up on Santa Clara, with Aimone Barabino and Gordon Marshall both picking up hat tricks in the slaughter. With the split results, the Bruins are now at 19-2 on the year and 1-1 in conference play, next taking on #8-ranked UC Irvine in Orange County on Friday.
Alright folks, those are your non-revenue sports related bits and pieces of news from around the UCLA-iverse for this Tuesday afternoon. Stay tuned as we switch back into full-blown football mode as our Bruins gear up for this weekend's huge game in Eugene. Fire away in the comment thread with your thoughts, additions, opinions, etc. as we get ready for Saturday.
GO BRUINS