2008 Woodie Awards
Revenge not enough motivation for UC-Berkeley to top UCLA
Kevin Morsony--Daily Californian (U. California-Berkeley)
Issue date: 10/20/03 Section: Sports
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(U-WIRE) BERKELEY, Calif. - Instead of the revenge it was hunting for, the Cal men's soccer team was left foraging for solutions to the holes in its defense. Against No. 1 UCLA, who eliminated the Bears in the third round of the NCAA tournament last season, Cal allowed its highest goal output from an opponent this year, falling 4-2.
The Bears, despite two comebacks to knot the score with the Bruins and the return of forward Carl Acosta to the lineup, couldn't match UCLA at either end of the field.
Cal as a team was matched in scoring by UCLA forward Matt Taylor alone.
Taylor scored two goals, and added an assist, giving the Bruins the lead on three separate occasions.
To open the scoring, Taylor tallied a goal in the 16th minute to give UCLA (11-1-0, 4-0-0 Pac-10) a 1-0 lead.
The Bears (6-6-2, 2-2-1) first evened the score with a goal from Eric Ebert in the 37th minute.
But as the trend developed, Taylor wouldn't let his team fall behind for long. This time, he assisted Cliff McKinley with a through ball.
Carl Acosta, who suffered a deeply bruised ankle last week against Washington that forced him to miss two games, made his return to the field in the second half important.
In the 60th minute, Acosta found the back of the net, for his team leading eighth goal of the season.
"He's our go to guy right now," forward Mike Munoz said. "It was his first touch of the game, but he took it, and buried it. What more can you ask?"
The Acosta-led momentum did not last for long, as the defense was not able to hold. Just a minute and a half later, the Bruins took the lead for good with another Taylor goal. An insurance goal followed from Jordan Harvey seven minutes later.
Despite being doubled up, the Cal offensive attack gained confidence, knowing that they were the first team to score against the Bruins in their home stadium this year.
"They have the best back-line in college soccer, but we felt dangerous," Munoz said.
That offensive confidence was matched by the defense in the 2-0 win over Fresno State.
The Bears took the lead early on a goal from Yohei Fukuda's first goal of the season on a cross from Mike Munoz.
Munoz found himself on the receiving end of a pass from Acosta to score his third goal of the year.
Munoz and Fukuda paced the Cal offense throughout the game, with four shots and three shots, respectively.
"I was sneaking behind their back line, and I kinda signaled to Carl, 'Hey pass it to me,' and I was able to just dribble around their keeper and send it in," Munoz said.
On the defensive end, Cal faced an attack that was the opposite of UCLA.
The Bulldogs (4-9-0, 1-4-0) managed just two shots on goal -- an easy effort for Bear's goalkeeper Mike Oseguera to get his third shutout this season.
The Bears, despite two comebacks to knot the score with the Bruins and the return of forward Carl Acosta to the lineup, couldn't match UCLA at either end of the field.
Cal as a team was matched in scoring by UCLA forward Matt Taylor alone.
Taylor scored two goals, and added an assist, giving the Bruins the lead on three separate occasions.
To open the scoring, Taylor tallied a goal in the 16th minute to give UCLA (11-1-0, 4-0-0 Pac-10) a 1-0 lead.
The Bears (6-6-2, 2-2-1) first evened the score with a goal from Eric Ebert in the 37th minute.
But as the trend developed, Taylor wouldn't let his team fall behind for long. This time, he assisted Cliff McKinley with a through ball.
Carl Acosta, who suffered a deeply bruised ankle last week against Washington that forced him to miss two games, made his return to the field in the second half important.
In the 60th minute, Acosta found the back of the net, for his team leading eighth goal of the season.
"He's our go to guy right now," forward Mike Munoz said. "It was his first touch of the game, but he took it, and buried it. What more can you ask?"
The Acosta-led momentum did not last for long, as the defense was not able to hold. Just a minute and a half later, the Bruins took the lead for good with another Taylor goal. An insurance goal followed from Jordan Harvey seven minutes later.
Despite being doubled up, the Cal offensive attack gained confidence, knowing that they were the first team to score against the Bruins in their home stadium this year.
"They have the best back-line in college soccer, but we felt dangerous," Munoz said.
That offensive confidence was matched by the defense in the 2-0 win over Fresno State.
The Bears took the lead early on a goal from Yohei Fukuda's first goal of the season on a cross from Mike Munoz.
Munoz found himself on the receiving end of a pass from Acosta to score his third goal of the year.
Munoz and Fukuda paced the Cal offense throughout the game, with four shots and three shots, respectively.
"I was sneaking behind their back line, and I kinda signaled to Carl, 'Hey pass it to me,' and I was able to just dribble around their keeper and send it in," Munoz said.
On the defensive end, Cal faced an attack that was the opposite of UCLA.
The Bulldogs (4-9-0, 1-4-0) managed just two shots on goal -- an easy effort for Bear's goalkeeper Mike Oseguera to get his third shutout this season.